MA S TER 
NEGA  TIVE 
NO.  92-80545 


MICROFILMED  1992 
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AUTHOR: 


JOHNSTON,  HAROLD  W 


TITLE: 


PRIVATE  LIFE 

OF  THE  ROMANS 

PLACE: 

CHICAGO 

DA  TE : 

1903 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Master  Negative  # 


BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROrORM  TARGET 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


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Johnston,  Harold  \7het8tone,  1859-  1912. 

...  The  private  life  of  the  Romana,  by  Harold 
Whotstono  Jolineton  ...   Chicago,  Scott,  1903. 

344  p.   iliuB.   20  ca.   (The  Lake  classical 
series) 

Bibliography:  p.  17-20. 


Copy  in  Barnard-College-Library. — roiSQZ 
Sopy-in  ClaasicP  -  Reading  Roon.      1903-. 


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Ube  Xafte  Classical  Series 


THE 


PRIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  ROMANS 


BY 


HAKOLD   WHETSTONE   JOHNSTON 

PKOFESSOR  OF  LATIN  IN  THE  INDIANA  UNIVERSITY 


09 


si 

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CO    . 

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CHICAGO    • 
SCOTT,  FORESMAN  AND  COMPANY 

1903 


BY  THK  SAME  AUTHOR 

{Scott,  Foresniati  and  ('ofnp((ny) 

Si-:LE(rrEi>  Orations  and  I^ktters  of  Cickko 

Latin  MANrscuiprs 

The  Metkk'al.  Licenses  of  \'EK<;n, 


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COPYRIGHT,    1903,    BY 
SCOTT,    FORESMAN    AND   COMPANY 


L-«H>-  I 


09 


CHARLES  S.  RANNELLS 

MEMO}: 
ACTAE  XON  ALIO  KEUE  i  UEJiTIAE 

AMORIS  CAUSA 

DUD 


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ROBT.     O.     LAW     CO.,    PKlNTKKSi    AND     ItlN  l>KK>S.   < 'ti  K   Ali* ». 

TYPOGRAPHY    BY 
MARSH,  AITK  EN  «&  CUKTIS  COMPANY,  CHICAOO 


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PKEFACE 


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In  preparing  this  book  I  have  had  in  mind  the  needs  of 
three  classes  of  students. 

It  is  intended  in  the  fii\>t  place  for  seniors  in  high  schools 
and  freslimen  in  colleges,  and  is  meant  to  give  such  an 
account  of  the  Private  Life  of  the  Romans  in  the  later 
Republic  and  earlier  Empire  as  will  enable  them  to  under- 
stand the  countless  references  to  it  in  the  Latin  texts  whicli 
they  read  in  the  class-room.  It  is  hoped  that  the  book  con- 
tains all  that  they  will  need  for  this  purpose  and  nothing 
that  is  beyond  their  comprehension. 

It  is  intended  in  the  second  place  for  more  advanced  col- 
lege students  who  may  be  taking  lectures  on  the  subjects  of 
which  it  treats.  The  work  of  both  teacher  and  student  will 
be  made  less  irksome  and  more  ellective  if  the  student  is 
aided  in  the  taking  of  notes  by  even  so  general  a  knowledge 
of  the  subject  (previously  announced  to  the  class)  as  is  here 
given.  This  1  know  from  actual  experience  with  my  own 
classes. 

In  the  third  place  it  is  intended  for  readers  and  stndents 
of  Roman  history,  who  are  engaged  chieily  with  important 
political  and  constitutional  questions,  and  of  ten  feel  the  need 
of  a  simple  and  compact  description  of  domestic  life,  to  give 
more  reality  to  the  shadowy  forms  whose  public  careers  they 
are  following.  Snch  students  will  find  the  Index  especially 
usefuL 


PREFACE 


The  book  is  written  as  far  as  possible  in  English :  that  is, 
no  great  knowledge  of  Latin  is  presumed  on  the  part  of  the 
reader.  I  have  tried  not  to  crowd  the  text  with  Latin 
words,  even  when  they  are  iinrnediately  explained,  and  those 
given  will  usually  be  found  worth  remembering.  Quotations 
from  Latin  authors  are  very  few,  and  the  references  to  their 
works,  fewer  still,  are  made  to  well-known  passages  only. 

To  every  chapter  are  prefixed  references  to  the  standard 
secondary  authorities  in  English  and  (lerman.  Primary 
sources  are  not  indicated :  they  would  be  above  the  heads  of 
the  less  advanced  students,  and  to  the  more  advanced  the  lec- 
turer will  prefer  to  indicate  the  sources  on  which  his  views 
are  based.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  all  these  sources  are 
indicated  in  the  authorities  named,  and  the  teacher  himself 
may  occasionally  find  the  references  helpful. 

The  ilkistrations  are  numerous  and  are  intended  to  illus- 
trate. Many  others  are  referred  to  in  the  text,  which  limited 
space  kept  me  from  using,  and  I  hope  that  Schreiber's  Atlas, 
at  least,  if  not  Baumeister\^  Denkmaeler,  may  be  within  the 
reach  of  students  in  class-room  or  library. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  there  must  be  many  errors  in 
a  book  like  this,  although  I  have  done  my  best  to  make  it 
accurate.  When  these  errors  are  due  to  relaxed  attention  or 
to  ignorance,  I  shall  be  grateful  to  the  person  who  will  point 
tliem  out.  When  they  are  due  to  mistaken  judgment,  the 
teacher  will  find  in  the  references,  1  hope,  sufficient  author- 
ities to  convince  his  pupils  that  he  is  right  and  I  am  wrong. 

11.    W.   JOHXSTON. 

The  India xa  Uxiverstty, 
Eebruary,  190o. 


4 


I 


I 


t 


i 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Introduction. —Scope  of  the  Book  §1;  Public  and  Private 
Antiquities  g2;  Antiquities  and  History  §4;  Antiquities 
and  Philology  §6 ;  Sources  §9;  Reference  Books  §13;  Sys- 
tematic Treatises  §14;  Encyclopedic  Works  §15;  Other 
Books  §10 , \ II 

I.  The  Family.— Tlie  Household  §17;  The  Splitting  Up  of  a 

House  §19;  Other  Meanings  oi  Familia  §21;  Agnatl  and 
Cognatl  §23;  Adflnes  §26;  The  Family  Cult  §27;  Adop- 
tion §30;  The  Patria  Potestas  §31:  Limitations  §32; 
Extinction  of  the  Potestas  §34;  Manus  i^35;  Dominica 
Potestas  §37 ." 21 

II.  The  Name— The  Triple  Name  §38;   The  Praenomen  §41; 

The  Nomen  §46;  The  Cognomen  §48;  Additional  Names 
§51;  Confusion  of  Names  §55;  Names  of  Women  §57; 
Names  of  Slaves  §58;  Names  of  Freedmen  §59;  Natural- 
ized Citizens  §60 35 

III.  Marriage  and  the  Position  of   Women.— Early  Forms 

of  Marriage  §61;  Ins  Conubii  §64;  Xnptiae  lilstae  §67; 
Betrothals  §70;  The  Dowry  §72;  Essential  Forms  §73; 
The  Wedding  Day  §75;  The  Wedding  Garments  §76;  The 
Ceremony  §79;  The  Wedding  Feast  §85;  The  Bridal  Pro- 
cession §86;  The  Position  of  Women  §90 49 

« 

IV.  Children  and  Education.— Legal  Status  §94;   Susceptid 

§95;  Dies  Liistrims  §97;  The  Bulla  §99;  Nurses  §100; 
Playthings  §102;  Pets  and  Cxames  §103;  Home  Training 
§104;  Schools  §108;  Subjects  Taught  in  Elementary 
Schools  §110;  Grammar  Schools  §112;  Schools  of  Rhetoric 
§115;  Travel  §116;  Apprenticeship  §117;  Remarks  on  the 
Schools  §119;  The  Teacher  §121;  Schooldays  and  Holi- 
days §122;  The  Paedagogus  §123;  Discipline  §124;  End 
of  Childhood  §125;  The  Liberalia  §127 67 

V.  Dependents:  Slaves  and  Clients.     Hospites.— Growth  of 

Slavery  §129;  Numbers  of  Slaves  §131 ;  Sources  of  Supply 
§134;  Sales  of  Slaves  §139;  Prices  of  Slaves  §140:  Public 

7 


8 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


9 


and  Private  Slaves  §141;  Private  Slaves  §142;  Industrial 
Employment  §143 ;  The  Familia  Rustica  §145 ;  Farm  Slaves 
§146;  The  TIllciis^US;  The  Familia  Urhana  §149;  Legal 
Status  of  Slaves  §156 ;  The  Treatment  of  Slaves  §158 ;  Food 
and  Dress  §160;  The  Pecidium  ^162;  Punishments  §166; 
Manumission  §175;  The  Clients  i^l76;  The  Old  Clients 
§177;  Mutual  Obligations  §179;  The  New  Clients  §181; 
Duties  and  Rewards  §182;  The  Hospites  ^ISS;  Hofipitmm 
§184;  Obligations  of  Hosjufium  §185 87 

VI.  The    House    and    Its     Furniture. —Z>om?/.9    §186;     The 

Development  of  the  House  §188;  The  VestibulHm  §194; 
The  Ostium  ^Idry;  The  Atrium  §196;  Tlie  Change  in  the 
Atrium  §197;  The^Za^^  §200;  The  Tahlinum  §201 ;  The  Per- 
istyle §202;  Private  Rooms  §203;  The  House  of  Pansa 
§208;  The  Walls  §210;  Paries  Caementlcius  §211;  Wall 
Facings  §212;  Floors  and  Ceilings  §213;  Roofs  §214;  The 
Doors  §215;  The  Windows  §217;  Heating  §218;  Water 
Supply  §219;  Decoration  i^*220;  Furniture  §222;  Principal 
Articles  §223;  The  Couches  §224;  The  Chairs  §225; 
Tables  §227;  Tiie  Lamps  §228;  Chests  and  Cabinets  §230; 
Other  Articles  §232;  The  Street  §233 117 

VII.  Dress  and  Personal  Ornaments.— 7nd?7f?/.s;   The  Subli- 

gaculum  §235;  The  Tunic  ^236;  Amivtus:  The  Toga  §240; 
Formand  Arrangement  §241;  Kinds  of  Togas  §246;  The 
Lacerna  §247;  The  Paenula  §248;  Other  Wraps  §249; 
Footgear:  The  Soleae  §250;  The  Calcel  §251;  Cover- 
ings for  the  Head  §252;  The  Hair  and  Beard  §253; 
Jewelry  §255;  Dress  of  Women  §257;  The  Tunica  Inte- 
rior %2o8;  The  Stola  §259;  ThePalla  §261;  Shoes  and 
Slippers  §262;  Dressing  of  the  Hair  §263;  Accessories 
§266;  Jewelry  §267;  Dress  of  the  Children  and  Slaves  §268; 
Materials  §269;  Colors  §270;  Manufacture  §271 !....  158 

VIII.  Food  and  Meals.— Natural  Conditions  §272;  Fruits 
§274;  Garden  Produce  §275;  Meats  §277;  Fowl  and 
Game  §279;  Fish  §280;  Cereals  §282;  Preparation  of  the 
Grain  §283;  Breadmaking  §287;  The  Olive  §289;  Olive  Oil 
§291;  Grapes  §293;  Viticulture  §294;  Vineyards  §295; 
Wine-making  §296;  Beverages  §298;  Style  of  Living 
§299;  Hours  for  Meals  ^301 ;  Breakfast  and  Luncheon  §302; 
The  Formal  Meal  §303;  The  Dining  Couch  §304;  Places  of 


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_  PAGE 

Honor  §305;  Other  Furniture  §307;  Courses  §308;  Bills  of 
Fare  §309;  Serving  the  Dinner  §310;  The  Comissatio 
§312 ;  The  Banquets  of  the  Rich  §315 183 

IX.  Amusements;  Baths.— General  §316;  Sports  of  the  Cam- 
pus §317;  Games  of  Ball  §318;  Games  of  Chance  §319; 
Knuckle-bones  §320;  Dice  §321 ;  Public  and  Private  Games 
§322;  Dramatic  Performances  §323;  Staging  the  Play 
§324;  The  Early  Theater  §325;  The  Later  Theater  §326; 
Roman  Circuses  §328;  Plan  of  the  Circus  §330;  The 
Arena  §332;  The  Barriers  §333;  The  Spina  and  Met ae 
§335 ;  The  Seats  §337 ;  Furnishing  the  Races  §339 ;  The 
Teams  §340;  The  Drivers  §341;  Famous  Aurigae  §342; 
Other  Shows  of  the  Circus  §343;  Gladiatorial  Com- 
bats §344;  Popularity  of  the  Combats  §346;  Sources 
of  Supply  §347;  Schools  for  Gladiators  §349;  Places  of 
Exhibition  §351;  Amphitheaters  at  Rome  §352;  The 
Amphitheater  at  Pompeii  §353;  The  Coliseum  §356;  Styles 
of  Figliting  §359;  Weapons  and  Armor  §360;  An- 
nouncement of  the  Shows  §361;  The  Fight  Itself  §362; 
The  Rewards  §363;  Other  Shows  in  the  Amphitheater 
§364;  The  Daily  Bath  §365;  Essentials  for  the  Bath  §366; 
Heating  the  Bath  §368;  The  Caldariuni  §369;  The 
Frlgiddrium  and  Unctorium  §370;  A  Private  Bathhouse 
§371,  The  Public  Baths  §372;  Management  §373;  Hours 
Opened  §374;  Accommodations  for  Women  §375;  The 
Thermae  §376;  Baths  of  Diocletian  §378 215 

X.  Travel  and  Correspondence.  Books.— In  General  §379; 
By  W^ater  §380;  By  Land  §381;  The  Vehicles  §382 ;  Car- 
riages §383;  The  Reda  and  Cisium  §384;  The  Roads  §385; 
Construction  §387;  The  Inns  §388;  Speed  §3S9 ;  Sending 
Letters  §390;  Writing  the  Letters  §391;  Sealing  and 
Opening  the  Letters  §392;  Books  §393;  Manufacture  of 
Paper  §394;  Pens  and  Ink  §395:  Making  tlie  Roll  §396; 
Size  of  the  Rolls  §398;  Multiplication  of  Books  §399; 
Commercial  Publication  §400;  Rapidity  and  Cost  of  Pub- 
lication §401 ;  Libraries  §402 278 

XL  Sources  of  Income  and  Means  of  Lt^^ng.    The  Roman's 

Day.— In  General  §403;  Careers  of  the  Nobles  §404;  Agri- 

!         culture  §405;    Political  Office  §406;  The  Law  §407;   The 

/         Army   §408;    Careers  of  the  Equites  §409;    The  Soldiers 


10 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


PAGE 


§410;  The  Proletariate  §411;  Professions  and  Trades  §412; 
Business  and  Commerce  §413;   The  Civil  Service  §414; 
*    The  Roman's  Day  §415 ;  Hours  of  the  Day  §417 299 

Xn.  Burial-places  and  Funeral  Ceremonies.— Importance 
of  Burial  §419;  Interment  and  Cremation  §420;  Places 
of  Burial  §421;  The  Tombs  §422;  The  Potter's  Field 
§423;  Plan  of  Tombs  and  Grounds  §425;  Exterior  of  the 
Tombs  §427;  The  ColumhaHa  §428;  Burial  Societies  §430; 
Funeral  Ceremonies  §432 ;  At  the  House  §483 ;  The  Funeral 
Procession  §434;  The  Funeral  Oration  §435;  At  the  Tomb 
§436;  After  Ceremonies  §437 ;  Memorial  Festivals  §438. . .  313 


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THE  PRIVATE  LIFE  OF  THE  K0MAN8 


INTliODUCTlOX 

The  topics  that  are  discussed  in  this  booK  have  to  do  with  1 
the  everyday  life  of  the  Roman  people.  Such  thhigs  will  be 
considered  as  the  family,  the  Uoman  name,  marriage  and  the 
position  of  women,  children  and  education,  slaves,  clients,  the 
house  and  its  furniture,  clothing,  food  and  meals,  amuse- 
ments, travel  and  correspondence,  funeral  ceremonies  and 
burial  customs,  etc.  These  things  are  of  interest  to  us  in  the 
case  of  any  ancient  or  foreign  people;  in  the  case  of  the 
llomans  they  are  of  especial  importance,  because  they  help 
to  explain  the  powerful  influence  which  that  nation  exerted 
over  the  old  world,  and  make  it  easier  to  understand  why 
that  influence  is  still  felt  in  some  degree  to-day. 

Public  and  Private  Antiquities— Tlie  subjects  that  }iave2 
been  mimed  above  belong  to  what  is  called  Classical  Antiqui- 
ties, taking  their  place  in  the  subdivision  of  Koman 
Antiquities^  as  opposed  to  (h'eek  Antiquities.  They  are 
crrouped  loosely  together  as  Private  Antiquities  in  opposition 
to  what  we  call  Public  Anticjuities.  Under  the  latter  liead 
we  consider  the  IJoman  as  a  citizen,  ami  we  examine  tlie 
several  classes  of  citizens,  their  obligations  and  their  privi- 
le^^es;  we  study  the  form  of  their  government,  its  othcers  and 
machinery,  its  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  procedure, 
its  revenues  and  expenditures,  etc.  It  is  evident  that  no 
hard  and  fast  line  can  be  drawn  between  the  U\o  branches 
of  the  subject:  they  cross  each  other  at  every  turn.  One 
scarcely  knows,  for  example,  under   which    head  to  put  the 

religion  of  the  IJomans  or  their  games  in  the  circus.  , 

11 


12 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


3  In  the  same  way,  the  daily  employment  of  a  slave,  his 
keep,  his  punishments,  his  rewards,  are  properly  considered 
under  the  head  of  Private  Antiquities.  But  the  state 
undertook  sometimes  to  regulate  hy  law  the  number  of 
slaves  that  a  master  might  have,  the  state  regulated  the 
numumission  of  the  slave  and  gave  him  certain  rights  as  a 
freedman,  and  these  matters  belong  to  Public  Antiquities. 
So,  too,  a  man  might  or  might  not  be  eligible  to  certain 
state  offices  according  to  the  particular  ceremony  used  at  the 
marriage  of  his  parents.  It  will  be  found,  therefore,  that 
the  study  of  Private  Antiquities  can  not  be  completely  sepa- 
rated from  its  complement,  though  in  this  book  the  dividing 
line  will  be  crossed  as  seldom  as  possible.^ 

4  Antiquities  and  History. — It  is  just  as  impossible  to  draw 
the  boundary  line  between  the  subjects  of  Antiquities  and 
History.  The  older  history,  it  is  true,  concerned  itself  little 
with  the  private  life  of  the  people,  almost  solely  with  the 
rise  and  fall  of  dynasties.  It  told  us  of  kings  and  generals, 
of  the  wars  they  waged,  the  victories  they  won,  and  the  con- 
quests they  made.  Then,  in  course  of  time,  institutions 
took  the  place  of  dynasties  and  parties  the  place  of  lieroes, 
and  history  traced  the  growth  of  great  political  ideas:  such 
masterpieces  as  ThirlwalTs  and  Grote's  histories  of  Greece 
are  largely  constitutional  histories,  l^ut  changes  in  interna- 
tional relations  atfect  the  jn'ivate  life  of  a  people  as  surely,  if 
not  as  speedily,  as  they  affect  the  machinery  of  government. 
You  can  not  bring  into  contact,  friendly  or  unfriendly,  two 
different  civilizations  without  a  change  in  the  peoples  con- 
cerned,  without  altering  their  occupations,    their  ways   of 

■  "~ • '      '     '     "  '  ""  ■■     -.    .  .    ...  I.      ,      m^ 

^Students  in  secondary  schools  will  tiiul  useful  for  preliminary 
reading  the  outline  of  tlie  Roman  Constitution  in  the  Introduction 
to  the  author's  ^'Selected  Orations  and  Letters  of  Cicero."  For 
more  advanced  students  three  books  have  lately  appeared  on  this 
subject:  Abbott's  "Roman  Political  Institutions,"  Granrud's 
''Roman  Constitutional  History,"  and  Greenidge's  "Roman  Public 
Life." 


X 


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i 


living,  their  very  ideas  of  life  and  its  purposes.  These 
changes  react  in  turn  upon  the  temper  and  character  of  a 
people,  they  affect  its  capacity  for  self-government  and  the 
government  of  others,  and  in  the  course  of  time  they  bring 
about  the  movements  of  which  even  the  older  history  took 
notice.  Hence  our  recent  histories  give  more  and  more 
space  to  the  life  of  the  common  people,  to  the  very  mat- 
ters, that  is,  that  were  mentioned  in  the  first  paragraph  as 
belonging  to  Private  Antiquities.  This  may  be  seen  in 
such  titles  as  these:  Green's  "History  of  the  English 
People,"   McMaster's  "History  of  the  People  of  the  United 

States." 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  equally  true  that  a  knowledge  5 
of  political  history  is  necessary  for  the  study  of  Private 
Antiquities.  We  shall  find  the  Romans  giving  up  certain 
ways  of  living  and  habits  of  thinking  that  seemed  to  have 
become  fixed  and  characteristic.  These  changes  we  could  not 
explain  at  all,  if  political  history  did  not  inform  us  that  just 
before  they  took  place  the  Romans  had  come  into  contact 
with  the  widely  different  ideas  and  opposing  civilizations  of 
other  nations.  The  most  important  event  of  this  sort  was 
the  introduction  of  Greek  culture  after  the  Punic  wars, 
and  to  this  we  shall  have  to  refer  again  and  again.  It 
follows  from  all  this  that  students  who  have  had  even  the 
most  elementary  course  in  Roman  history  have  already  some 
knowledge  of  Private  Antiquities,  and  that  those  who  have 
not  studied  the  history  of  Rome  at  all  will  find  very  helpful 
the  reading  of  even  the  briefest  of  our  school  histories. 

Antiquities  and  Philology.— The  subject  of  Classical  6 
Antiquities  has  always  been  regarded  as  a  branch— "disci- 
pline" is  the  technical  word— of  Classical  Philology  since 
Friedrich  August  Wolf  (1 750-1824)  made  Philology  a  science. 
It  is  quite  true  that  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the 
word  Philology  is  merely  the  science  of  language,  but 
even  here  Antiquities  has  an  important  part  to  play.     It  is 


-^ 


14 


thp:   private   tji  e  of  the   Romans 


INTRODUCTION 


16 


impossible  to  read  uiulerstaii<liiigly  an  ode  of  Horace  or  an 
oration  of  Cicero,  if  one  is  ignorant  of  the  social  life  and 
the  political  institutions  of  liome.  But  Classical  Philology 
is  much  more  than  the  science  of  understandinof  and  inter- 
preting  the  classical  language^.  It  claims  for  itself  the 
investigation  of  (ireek  and  Roman  life  in  all  its  aspects, 
social,  intellectual,  and  political,  so  far  as  it  has  become 
known  to  us  from  the  surviving  literary,  epigraphic,  and 
monumental  records.  Whitney  puts  it  thus:  Philology 
deals  with  human  speech  and  with  all  that  speech  dis- 
closes as  to  the  luiture  and  history  of  man.  If  it  is  hard 
to  remember  these  definitions  one  can  hardly  forget  the 
epigram  of  Benoist:  Philology  is  the  geology  of  the  intel- 
lectual world.  Under  this,  the  only  scientific  conception  of 
Philology,  the  study  of  Antiquities  takes  at  once  a  higher 
place.  It  becomes  the  end  with  linguistics  the  means,  and 
this  is  the  true  relation  between  them. 
7  But  it  happens  that  the  study  of  the  languages  in  which 
the  records  of  classi(*al  antiquity  are  preserved  must  first 
occupy  the  investigator,  and  that  the  study  of  language  as 
mere  language,  its  origin,  its  growth,  its  decay,  is  in  itself 
very  interesting  and  profitable.  It  happens,  moreover,  that 
the  languages  of  (ireece  and  Home  can  not  be  studied  apart 
from  literatures  of  singular  richness;  beauty,  and  power,  and 
the  study  of  literature  has  always  bee:i  one  of  the  most 
attractive  and  absorbing  to  cultivated  men.  It  is  not  hard 
to  understand,  therefore,  why  the  study  of  Antiquities  has 
not  been  more  prominent  in  connection  with  philological 
training.  It  was  the  end  to  which  only  the  few  pressed  on. 
It  was  reserved,  at  least  in  systematic  form,  for  the 
trained  scholar  in  the  universitv.  In  the  congested  condi- 
tion  of  the  old  curricula  in  our  colleges  it  was  crowded  out 
by  the  more  obvious,  but  not  more  essential  or  interesting, 
subjects  of  linguistics  and  literary  criticism,  or  it  was  pre- 
sented at  best  in  the  form  of  sciappy  notes  on  the  authors 


i 


* 


I' 


I 


read  in  the  classroom   or  in   the  dismembered  alphabetical 
arrangement  of  a  dictionary. 

AVithin  the  last  few  years,  however,  a  change  has  been  8 
taking  place,  a  change  due  to  several  causes.  In  the  first 
place,  the  literary  criticism  wdiich  was  once  taught  exclu- 
sively in  connection  with  classical  authors  and  which  claimed 
so  large  a  part  of  the  time  allotted  to  classical  study  has 
found  a  more  appropriate  place  in  the  departments  of 
English  that  were  hardly  known  a  generation  ago.  In  the 
second  place,  the  superior  preparation  in  the  classics  now 
demanded  for  admission  to  our  colleges  has  relieved  their 
courses  of  much  elementary  linguistic  drill  that  was  formerly 
necessary.  In  the  third  place,  the  last  half  century  has 
seen  a  greater  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  Antiquities  than 
all  the  years  before,  and  it  is  now  possible  to  present  in  posi- 
tive dogmatic  form  much  that  was  recently  mere  guesswork 
and  speculation.  Finally,  modern  theories  of  education, 
which  have  narrowed  the  stream  of  classical  instruction 
only  to  deepen  its  channel  and  quicken  its  current,  have 
caused  more  stress  to  be  laid  upon  the  points  of  contact 
between  the  ancient  and  the  modern  world.  The  teacher  of 
the  classics  has  come  to  realize  that  the  obligations  of  the 
present  to  the  past  are  not  to  be  so  clearly  presented  and  so 
vividly  appreciated  in  connection  with  the  formal  study  of 
art  and  literature  as  in  the  investigation  of  the  great  social, 
political,  and  religious  problems  which  throughout  all  the 
ages  have  engaged  the  thought  of  cultivated  men. 

Sources.— It  has  been  already  remarked  (§G)  that  Classical  9 
Philology  draws  its  knowledge  from  three  sources,  the 
literary,  epigraphic,  and  monumental  remains  of  Greece  and 
Kome.  It  is  necessary  that  we  should  understand  at  the 
outset  precisely  what  is  meant  by  each  of  these.  By  literary 
sources  we  mean  the  writings  of  the  Greeks  and  Komans, 
that  is,  the  books  which  they  published,  that  have  come 
down  to  us.     The  form  of  these  books,  the  way  they  were 


16 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


published  and  have  been  preserved,  will  be  considered  later. 
For  the  present  it  is  sufRcient  to  say  that  a  mere  fraction 
only  of  these  writings  has  come  down  to  our  day,  and  that 
of  these  poor  remnants  we  possess  no  originals  but  merely 
more  or  less  imperfect  copies.  It  is  true,  nevertheless,  that 
these  form  as  a  Avliole  the  most  important  of  our  sources  of 
information,  largely  because  they  have  been  most  carefully 
studied  and  are  best  understood. 

10  By  epigraphic  sources  we  mean  the  words  that  were  writ- 
te^i,  scratched,  cut,  or  stamped  on  hard  materials,  such  as 
metal,  stone,  or  wood,  without  thought  of  literary  finish. 
These  vary  from  single  words  to  records  of  very  considerable 
extent,  and  are  briefly  called  inscriptions.  The  student  may 
get  a  good  idea  of  the  most  ancient  and  curious  by  merely 
turning  over  a  few  pages  of  Ritschrs  "Priscae  Latinitatis 
Monumenta  Epigraphica"  or  of  Egbert's  "Latin  Inscrip- 
tions." Of  one  sort  of  great  importance,  the  legends  on  coins 
nnd  medals,  many  have  found  their  way  into  American 
museums.  With  modern  inscriptions  on  similar  materials 
and  for  similar  purposes  every  student  is,  of  course,  familiar. 

11  By  monumental  evidence  we  mean  all  the  things  actually 
made  by  the  (i reeks  and  Ifomans  that  have  come  clown  to  us. 
These  things  are  collectively  very  numerous  and  of  very 
many  kinds:  coins,  medals,  pieces  of  jewelry,  armor, 
pottery,  statues,  paintings,  bridges,  aqueducts,  fortifica- 
tions, ruins  of  cities,  etc.  It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  them 
all.  It  is  upon  such  remains  as  these  that  most  of  the 
inscriptions  mentioned  above  are  preserved.  Of  the  most 
importance  for  the  study  of  the  private  life  of  the  Komans 
are  the  ruins  of  the  city  of  Pompeii  preserved  to  us  by  the 
protection  of  the  ashes  that  buried  it  at  the  time  of  the 
eruption  of  Vesuvius  in  the  year  79  a.d. 

12  It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  the  importance  of  these 
sources  will  vary  with  the  nature  of  the  subject  we  are 
studying  and  the  fullness  of  their  preservation.     For  exam- 


IXTRODUCTIOX 


17 


pie,  we  may  read  in  a  ]\oman  poet  a  description  of  an  orna- 
ment worn  by  a  bride.  A  painting  of  a  bride  wearing  such 
an  ornament  Avould  nuike  the  description  clearer,  but  any 
doubt  that  might  remain  would  be  removed  if  there  should 
be  found  in  the  ruins  of  Pompeii  a  similar  ornament  witli 
its  character  proved  by  an  inscription  upon  it.  In  this  case 
the  three  sources  would  have  contributed  to  our  knowledge. 
For  other  nuitters,  especially  intangible  things,  we  may  have 
to  rely  solely  upon  descriptions,  that  is,  upon  literary 
sources.  But  it  may  well  happen  that  no  Eoman  wrote  a 
set  description  of  the  particular  thing  that  we  are  studying, 
or  if  he  did  that  his  writings  have  been  lost,  so  that  we  may 
be  forced  to  build  up  our  knowledge  bit  by  bit,  1)y  putting 
together  laboriously  the  scraps  of  information,  mere  hints 
])erhaps,  that  we  find  scattered  here  and  there  in  the  works 
of  different  authors,  and  these  perhaps  of  very  different 
times.  It  is  not  hard  to  understand,  therefore,  that  our 
knowledge  of  some  things  pertaining  to  Roman  antiquities 
may  be  fairly  complete,  while  of  others  we  may  have  no 
knowledg^e  at  all.  It  niav  be  worth  remarking  of  literarv 
sources  that  the  more  common  and  familiar  a  thing  was  to 
the  ancients,  the  less  likely  is  it  that  we  shall  find  a  descrip- 
tion of  it  in  ancient  literature. 

Reference  Books. — The  collecting  and  arranging  of  the  13 
information  gleaned  from  these  sources  has  been  the  task  of 
philologists  from  very  early  times,  but  so  much  has  been 
added  to  our  knowledge  by  recent  discoveries  that  all  but 
the  latest  books  may  bo  neglected  by  the  student.  A  very 
full  list  of  books  treating  of  Poman  Antiquities  may  be 
found  in  l[i'i])ner's  "Bibliographic  der  klassischen  Altertums- 
wissenschaft,"  and  a  convenient  li.^t  in  Professor  Kelsey's 
''Fifty  Topics  in  lioman  Antiquities  with  Peferences,"  but 
the  student  should  not  fail  to  notice  at  the  head  of  each 
chapter  the  lists  of  authorities  to  be  consulted  in  the  books 
specifically  mentioned  below.     These  have  been  ari-anged  in 


18 


THE    PRIVATE    LTI  E    OF    THE    ROMANS 


INTRODUCTION 


19 


two  classes,  systematic  treatises  and  encyclopedic  works,  and 
tlie  student  who  lacks  time    to    consult  all  the   references 
should  select  one  at  least  of  the  better  and  larger  w^orks  in 
each  class  for  regular  and  methodical  study. 
14       Systematic  Treatises: 

Marquardt,  Joachim,  "Das  Privatleben  der  Komer,'' 
2d  edition  by  A.  Mau.  'J^his  is  tlie  seventh  volume  of  the 
Ilandhuch  tier  rbmischen  Altertlifmer  by  Marquardt  and 
Mommsen.  It  is  the  fullest  and  most  authoritative  of  all 
the  treatises  on  the  subject  and  has  a  few  illustrations. 

Voigt,  Moritz,  "Die  Romischen  Privataltertiimer," 
2d  edition.  This  is  a  part  of  the  fourth  volume  of  the 
Ilandhuch  der  I'lassisclien  Altertiimsicissensclttftt  by  Iwan 
von  Midler.  It  is  the  latest  work  on  the  subject,  especially 
rich  in  tlie  citation  of  authorities. 

Gulil  and  Koiier,  "Leben  der  Griechen  und  Komer," 
6th  edition  by  Engelmann.  A  standard  and  authoritative 
work  enriched  by  copious  illustrations.  There  is  an  English 
translation  of  an  earlier  edition  wliich  may  be  used  by  those 
who  read  no  German. 

Becker,  ^\,  A.,  "Gallus  oder  romische  Scenen  aus  der 
Zeit  Augusts,"  new  edition  by  Hermann  Goll.  This  is  a 
standard  authority  in  the  form  of  a  novel.  The  story  is  of 
no  particular  interest,  but  the  notes  and  excursuses  are  of 
the  first  importance.  There  is  an  Englisli  translation  of  the 
first  edition  which  may  be  used  with  cautioii  l)y  those  who 
read  no  German. 

Friedliinder,  L.,  ''Darstellungen  aus  der  Sittengeschichte 
lioms  in  der  Zeit  von  August  bis  zum  Ausgang  der  Anto- 
niiie,"  Gth  edition.  This  is  the  great  authority  for  the 
time  it  covers  and  will  be  found  to  include  practically  the 
history  from  the  earliest  times  of  all  the  matters  of  which  it 
treats. 

Bliimner,  Hugo,  ''Technologic  und  Terminologie  der 
Gewerbe    und  Kiinste    bei    Griechen  und  Komern."     The 


A 


very  best  description  of  the  arts  aiul  industries  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Home. 

liamsay,  William,  "A  Manual  of  Iioman  Antiquities," 
loth  edition,  revised  and  partly  rewritten  by  Kodolfo 
Lanciani.  This  includes  public  as  well  as  jirivate  antiqui- 
ties, but  the  revision  seems  to  have  been  but  partial  and 
the  larger  part  of  the  book  is  hopelessly  out  of  date. 

AVilkins,  A.  S.,  "Koman  Antiquities,"  and  Preston  and 
Dodge,  ''The  Private  Life  of  the  Pomans."  Two  little 
books,  of  which  the  former  is  by  a  good  scholar  and  is  worth 
reading. 

Encyclopedic  Works:  15 

Pauly-Wissowa,  "Peal-Encyclopiidie  der  classischen 
Altertumswissenschaft. "  A  monumental  work,  destined  to 
be  for  many  years  the  great  authority  upon  the  subject. 
Unfortunately  it  is  appearing  very  slowly  and  has  reached 
only  the  word  JJemodoro^i.     There  are  a  few  illustrations. 

Smith,  William,  "A  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Poman 
Antiquities,"  revised  edition  by  Wayte  and  Marindin.  This 
is  the  very  best  work  of  the  sort  in  English,  the  best  possibly 
of  similar  size  in  any  language. 

liaumeister,  "Denkmiiler  des  klassischen  Altortums." 
The  most  richly  illustrated  work  on  the  subject,  absolutely 
indispensable. 

"Harper's  Dictionary  of  Classical  Literature  and  Antiqui- 
ties."    Largely  from  Smith,  but  with  valuable  additions. 

Pich,  "Dictionary  of  Poman  and  Greek  Antiquities. "  A 
convenient  manual  with  many  illustrations.  Very  good  for 
ready  reference. 

Schreiber,  "Atlas  of  Classical  Antiquities."  A  very 
copious  collection  of  illustrations  bearing  on  Greek  and  Roman 
life.     The  illustrations  are  accompanied  by  explanatory  text. 

Seyffert-Xettleship,  "Dictionary  of  Classical  Antiqui- 
ties." The  illustrations  are  numerous  and  the  book  is  of 
some  value  on  the  side  of  ancient  art. 


20 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


Liibker,  "Real-Lexicon  des  klassischen  Altertums,"  7th 
edition  by  Max  Ei  ler.  The  best  brief  handbook  for  those 
who  read  German.  It  is  compact  and  accurate. 
16  Other  Books. — Besides  these,  three  books  may  be  men- 
tioned treating  of  the  discoveries  at  Pompeii,  the  importance 
of  which  has  been  mentioned  (§11): 

Overbeck,  J.,  ''Pompeii,"  4th  edition  by  August  Mau, 
the  standard  popular  work  npon  the  subject,  richly  supplied 
with  illustrations. 

Man,  August,  ''Pompeii,  its  Life  and  Art,"  translated  by 
Kelsey.  This  is  the  best  account  of  the  treasures  of  the 
•buried  city  that  has  appeared  in  English,  at  once  interesting 
and  scholarly. 

Gusman,  Pierre,  "Pompeii,  the  City,  its  Life  and  Art," 
translated  by  Simmonds  and  Jourdain.  The  very  best  col- 
lection of  illustrations,  but  not  so  trustworthy  in  letter- 
press. 

Finally  the  student  should  be  warned  not  to  neglect  a 
book  merely  because  it  happens  to  be  written  in  a  language 
that  he  does  not  read  fluently :  the  very  part  that  he  wants 
may  happen  to  be  easy  to  read,  and  many  of  these  books 
contain  illustrations  that  tell  their  own  story  independently 
of  the  letterpress  that  accompanies  them. 


} 


If 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  FAMILY 

REFEREN'CEs:  Marquardt,  pp.  1-6;  Voigt,  307-311,  3?6-388;  GoU  II.  1-4, 
ei-ft-i  187;  Pauly-Wissowa,  under  adfrnUas,  agnmid,  eotjiiofw;  Smith  under 
.onnmi.  familia,  patria  potestas;  Seyffert,  under  agmtio,  cogmdw,  familia, 
manus:  Liibker,  under  agrmtir,,  cognntio,  familia,  manus,  patria  poMas._ 

Look  up  the  word  familia  in  Harper's  lexicon  and  notice  carefully  its  range 

of  meanings.  ,        ..     ~,  ■„, 

See  also  Muirhead,  •Roman  Law,"  pp.  24-33,  and  the  paragraph  on  the  Quin- 
tian  Family  in  the  article  on  Roman  Law  by  the  same  writer  in  the  'Ency- 
clopaedia Britannica,"  Vol.  XX. 

The   Household.— If  by   our    ^vord    family    we    iisnallyi? 
understand  a  group  of  husband,  wife,  and  children,  we  may 
acknowledge  at  once  that  it  does  not  correspond  exactly  to 
any  of  the  meanings  of  the  Latin  familia,  varied  as  the 
dictionaries  show  these  to  be.     Husband,  wife,  and  children 
did  not  necessarily  constitute  an  independent  family  among 
tlie  Romans,  and  were  not  necessarily  members  even  of  the 
same  family.     Those  persons  made  up  the  Koman  familia, 
in  the  sense  nearest  to  its  English    derivative,   who  were 
subject  to  the  authority  of  the  same  Head  of  the  House 
ipator    familim).      These  persons    might   make   a  host  in 
themselves:  wife,  unmarried  daughters,  sons  real  or  adopted, 
married  or  unmarried,  with  their   wives,  sons,    unmarried 
(laughters,  and  even   remoter   descendants  (always  through 
males),  yet  tliey  made  but  one  familia  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Romans.      The  Head  of   such    a   family-"  liousehold"  or 
"house"  is  the  nearest  English  word— was  always  sul  Urns 
("independent,"    "one's   own   master"),  while    the  others 
were  ulieno  iurl  sabiectl  ("dependent"). 

31 


22 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    FAMILY 


23 


18        The  authority  of  the  pater  familids  over  his  wife  was 
called  mamis,  over  his  descendants  jmtria  poteda^,  over  liis 
chattels  dominica potestas.    So  long  as  he  lived  and  retained 
bis  citizenship,  these  powers  could  be  terminated  only  by 
his  own  deliberate  act.     He  could  dispose  of  his  property  by 
gift  or  sale  as  freely  as  we  do  now.    He  might  ''emancipate" 
his  sons,  a  very  formal  proceeding  (emancipafid)    by  which 
they  became  each  tlie  Head  of  a  new  family,  though  they 
were  childless  themselves  or  unmarried  or  even  mere  chil- 
dren,    lie  might  also  emancipate  an  unmarried  daughter, 
who  thus  in  her  own  self  became  an  independent  family. 
Or  he  might  give  her  in  marriage  to  another  Roman  citizen, 
an  act  by  which  she  passed  by  early  usage  (§01)   into  the 
family  of  which  her  husband  was  Head,  if  he  was  sui  iuris, 
or  of  which  he  was  a  member,  if  he  was  still  alieno  iuri 
suhiectns.     It  must  be  carefully  noticed,  on  the  other  hand, 
that    the  marriage  of   a   son    did   not    make    him   a  pater 
familids   or  relieve   him   in   any   degree    from    tlie  pafria 
pofestds:  he  and  his  wife  aiul  their  children  were  subject  to 
the  same  Head  of  the  House  as  he  had  been  before  his  mar- 
riage.    On  the  other  hand,  the  Head  of  the  House  could 
not  number  in  hh  fajuiJia  his  daughter's  children:  legiti- 
mate children  always  followed  the  father,  while  an  illegit- 
imate  child  was  from  the    moment  of  birth  in  himself  or 
herself  an  independent  family. 
19       The  Splitting  Up  of  a   House.— Emancipation   was  not 
very  common  and  it  usually  happened  that  the  household 
was  dissolved  only  by  the  death  of  the  Head.     AVhen  this 
occurred,  as   many   new  households   were    formed    as   there 
were  persons  directly  subject  to  his  i^otedds  at  the  moment  of 
his  death:  wife,  sons,  unmarried  daughters,  widowed  daugh- 
ters-in-law, and  children  of  a  deceased  son.     The  children 
of  a  surviving  son,  it  must  be  noticed,  merely  passed  from 
the  pofestds  of  their  grandfather  to  that  of  their  father. 
A  son  under  age  or  an  unmarried  daughter  was  put  under 


^^* 


xr^ 


*^  i 


the  care  of  a  guardian  {tutor),  selected  from  the  same  gens, 
very  often  an  older  brother,  if  there  was  one.  The  follow- 
ing diagram  will  make  this  clearer : 

iGaius  {pater  fainilias)  =  (t)  ^Gaia  {matfrfamilia8) 


»Paustus  =  *TuUia    (t)^Balbus  =  «Liciiiia    ^Publius^JTeren 


^Marcus 


>Terentla  Minor 


"Titus  i^Tiberius       i3Quintus    i^Sextius 


i^Servius      i«Decimus 


It  is  assumed  that  Gains  is  a  Avidower  who  has  had  five  2C 
children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Of  the  sons, 
Faustus  and  Balbus  married  and  had  each  two  children; 
Balbus  then  died.  Of  the  daughters,  Terentia  Minor 
married  Marcus  and  became  the  mother  of  two  children. 
Publius  and  Terentia  were  unmarried  at  the  death  of  Gains, 
who   had   emancipated   none    of   his   children.     It    will   be 

noticed : 

1.  The  living  descendants  of  Gains  were  ten  (3,  7,  8,  10, 

11,  12,  13,  14,  15,  10),  his  son  Balbus  being  dead. 

2.  Subject  to   his  potestds  were  nine  (3,  4,  6,  7,  8,  11, 

12,  13,  14). 

3.  His  daughter  Terentia  Minor  (10)  had  passed  out  of 
his  potestds  by  her  marriage  with  Marcus  (9),  and  her 
children  (15,  10)  alone  out  of  all  the  descendants  of  Gains 
had  not  been  subject  to  him. 

4.  At  his  death  are  formed  six  independent  families, 
one  consisting  of  four  persons  (3,  4,  II,  12),  the  others  of 
one  person  each  (0,  7,  8,  13,  14). 

5.  Titus  and  Tiberius  (II,  I'l)  have  merely  passed  out  of 
the  potestds  of  their  grandfather  Gains  to  come  under  that 
of  their  father  Faustus. 

Other    Meanings    of   Familia.— The    word   familia   was  21 
also  very  commonly  used  in  a  slightly  wider  sense  to  include 
in  addition  to  the  persons  named  above  (§17)  all  the  slaves 
and  clients  and  all  the  property  real  and  personal  belonging 


24. 


THE    TKIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    KoMANH 


THE    FAMILY 


25 


to  the  jxttev  familids,  or  acquired  and  used  by  the  persons 
under  his  pofesids.  The  word  was  also  used  of  the  slaves 
alone,  and  rarely  of  the  property  alone.  In  a  still  wider 
and  more  important  sense  the  word  was  applied  to  a  hirger 
group  of  related  persons,  the  genSy  consisting  of  all  the 
''households"  {familiar  in  the  sense  of  §17)  who  derived 
their  descent  through  males  from  a  common  ancestor. 
This  remote  ancestor,  could  his  life  have  lasted  through  all 
the  intervening  centuries,  would  have  been  the  pater 
fain il las  of  all  the  persons  included  in  the  gens,  and  all 
Vould  have  been  subject  to  his  potestas.  Membership  in 
the  (jeii-s  was  proved  by  the  possession  of  the  nniiuni,  the 
second  of  the  three  names  that  every  citizen  of  the  Republic 
regularly  had  (§-)8). 
22  Theoreticallv  this  nens  luul  been  in  prehistoric  times  one 
of  the  fanilliae,  ''households,"  whose  union  for  political 
purposes  had  formed  the  state.  11ieoretically  its  jjater 
fainilids  had  been  one  of  the  Heads  of  Houses  who  in  the 
days  of  the  Kings  had  formed  the  pat  res,  or  assemlily  of  old' 
men  {sendtas).  The  splitting  up  of  this  prehistoric  house- 
hold in  the  manner  explained  in  §19,  a  process  repeated 
generation  after  generation,  was  believed  to  account  for  the 
numerous  fam^^ae^v\lO  claimed  connection  with  the  great 
f/eates  m  later  times.  The  gens  had  an  organization  of 
which  little  is  known.  It  passed  resolutions  binding  upon 
its  members;  it  furnished  guardians  for  minor  children, 
and  curators  for  the  insane  and  for  spendthrifts.  When  a 
member  died  without  leaving  natural  heirs,  it  succeeded  to 
Rucli  property  as  he  did  not  dispose  of  by  will  and, 
administered  it  for  the  common  good  of  all  its  members. 
'J'hese  members  were  called  gcnt'iles,  were  bound  to  take 
part  in  the  religious  services  of  the  geas  {sacra  gent'iUcUi), 
had  a  claim  to  the  common  property,  and  might  if  they 
chose  be  laid  to  rest  in  the  common  burial  ground. 

Finally,  the  word  fonilla  Avas  often  applied  to  certain 


branches  of  a  gens  whose  members  had  the  --e  <.v/«o,.^. 
(<4S)    the  last  of  the  three  names  mentioned  m  §a. 
his  n'se  of  familla  a  more  accnrate  word  is  shrp,. 

Agnati.-It   has  been  remarked  (§18)  that  the  chUdrouaa 
of  a  daughter  could  not  be  mcluded  in  ,he  ./.»./..  of  hei 
Mher  and  (§21)  that  membership  in  the  largei-  o.gamza  lou 
^led'the  ,;.;.was  limited  to  tho.e  who  cou  d    race  then- 
descent  through  males.     All  persons  who  conld  ni  th  .  ^Na> 

t    boir  descent  through  males  to  a  common  ancestor,  in 
trace  tneii  aesceni  luiv^ij-,  prilled 

whose    vofrdC,^  thev  would   be  were  he  alnc,   were  calert 
,^'    7    «d  this  a^natio  was  the  closest  tie  of  relations  np 
known  to  the  IJonmns.     In  the  list  of  .uinnll  were  uicUuled 
uo  cH    e    of  persons  who  would  seem  by  the  definition  to 
iret lu    d      These  were  the  wife,  who  passed  by  ...... 

•1    ttlilyof  her  luisband  (, IS),  becoming  by  law  his 

Ite  and  the  agnate  of  all  his  agnates   and  te^ac  opted 

L      On  the  other  Land  a  son  who  had  been  emanc.pa  ed 

;)    was    excluded  from  .,«./^^  with  ^ ^^  ^ ^ 

th  r's  agnates,  and   conld    have  no  agnates  ot    hi.  o^^ 

until  he  nnu-ried  or  was  adopted  into  another  ./.»./...     The 

following  diagram  will  make  this  clearer: 

.Cuius  ivater  famU-m  ='tlaia  (,»f>t^r famUim 


I  ..       ^  ■iR-.'lhns  -"Licima     'PuWius     H-rereuUa 


11  Tit  US      1 '^Tiberius  \ 


\  EmaiK'ipatedJ 

i^Marcus  =  H'Ten-ntia  Minor 


:  isQiiinUu 


iiSextius 


':  r<;ervius  adopted  by  Gains  1    issrrviiis 
:•-• [Eiuaiieipatea] 


i«Decimus 


It  is  supposed  that  (lains  and  (iaia  liave  five  childr.M,  24 
(Fa^ltlis,  Balbus,   I'ublius,  Terentia,  and  Terentia      mo^^^^^^ 
tnd  si.  <n-andsons  (Titns  and  Tiberius  the  sons  ot  Kuistu. 

Ltus^nd  Sextiiis  the  sons  of  ^albns    and  Sen-ius  an 
I  ecimus  the  sons  of  Terentia  Minor        Gams     a.  umuu^i 
pated  two  of  his  sons,  Ikilbus  and  rnblins,  and  ha.  adopted 


X 


26 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


his  grandson  Servius,  who  had  previously  been  emancipated 
by  his  father  Marcus.     There  are  four  sets  of  ayndfl' 

1.  Gains,  his  wife,  and  those  yvhose  jmfer  fa//u  I  ids  he  is, 
viz. :  Faustus,  Tullia  the  wife  of  Faustus,  Terentia,  Titus, 
Tiberius,  and  Servius,  a  son  by  adoption  (1,  2,  3,  4,  8,  11, 
12,  15). 

2.  Balbus,  his  wife,  and  their  two  sons  (o,  (>,  i:],  and  U). 

3.  Publius,  who  is  liimself  a  jufff^r  familids^  but  has  no 
(Kjiidfl  at  all. 

4.  Marcus,  his  wife  Terentia  Minor,  and  their  chihl 
Decimus  (0,  10,  IC).  Notice  that  the  other  child,  Servius 
(15),  having  been  emancipated  by  Marcus  is  no  longer  agnate 
to  his  father,  mother,   or  brother. 

25        Cognati,   on  the  other  hand,   were  what  we   call  blood 
I  relations,  no  matter  whether  they  traced  their  relationship 
through  males  or  females,  and  regardless  of  what  pofesfds 
had  been  over  them.    The  only  barrier  in  the  eyes  of  the  law 
was  loss  of  citizenship  (§1S),  and  even  this  was  not  always 
regarded.      Thus,  in  the  table  last  given,   (alius,   Faustus, 
lialbus,  Publius,  Terentia,  Terentia  Minor,  Titus,  Tiberius, 
Quintus,    Sextius,    Servius,    and   Decimus    are    all  cognates 
with  one  another.     So,  too,  is  Gaia  with  all  her  descendants 
mentioned.     So  also  are  Tullia,  Titus,  aiul  Tiberius;  Licinia, 
Quintus,  and  Sextius;  Marcus,  Servius,  and  Decimus.     j^ut 
husband   and   wife    ((iaius   and    (iaia,    Faustus   and   Tullia, 
Pal1)us  and  Licinia,  Marcus  and  Terentia  Elinor)  were  not 
cognates   by   virtue   of   their   marriage,    though    that    made 
them  agnates.     In  fact  public  opinion  discountenanced  the 
nnirriage   of  cognates   within    the   sixth    (later   the  fourth) 
degree,  and  persons  Avithin  this  degree   were  said    to  have 
the  ins  osriilh     The  degree  was  calculated  ])y  counting  from 
one  of  the  interested  parties  through  the  common  ancestor 
to   the   other  aiul   may  be  easily  understood  from   the  table 
given  in  Smitlfs  ''Dictionary  of  Anli^piities''  under  nHfud/l,- 
or  the  one  given  here  (Fig.   1).      Cognates  did  not  form  an 


[H 


r 


rt 


i\ 


V 


THE    FAMILY 


27 


t-"  <^  ^  i-j   (V  (X 


5^ 


X 

00 


X 


»i"  rr-  O'l  J^ 


^^ 


5*  '^  :^  tf 
^  X--- X 


X  <>». 


X 


^3. 


1  ^^  1  "^  1 


X 


J  s 


y     ^ 

**     (T*    "^5 

X 


X 


2      I  ^      1  ^ 


1   ^"Ti  ^.:/'- 


J    oo  X 


1  *-;•  .^  ( 


^•x 


X 


ft 


Vi 
OS 


> 

C 


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'% 


05 


ft 

X 

4^ 


05 


1- 


O  ^ 

^^ 
<x. 

O 
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5 


06    X 
OS    X 


X 


►^3 


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S-X      J  -J      J 


■  X 


J  %  0 


(X, 


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X 


Od  X 


5    J  *ri 


PS 
X 

OS 


^  Hi 

X 


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>,     i: 


^-'  ^  j^ 

^5        7^'^  X 


^  '^    ^^  _r. 


y 


a"J2 
^'  *t  d 

^^   S  X   4^ 


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^     i  t  ^^^ 


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rr  ■*>-  "* 

^'  15:  ^ 

■<  '^  f^ 

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~.  <>  Si 


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Si 


-  Oi 


FrorKK  1.    Taulk  of  Rki.ationship 


28 


tup:  private  life  of  the  Romans 


organic  body  in  the  state  as  did  the  agnates  (§22),  but  the 
2*2d  of  February  was  set  aside  to  commemorate  the  tie  of 
blood  {(dra  cugndtid)^  and  on  this  day  presents  were 
exchanged  and  family  reunions  probably  held.  It  must  be 
understood,  however,  that  cogndtio  gave  no  legal  rights  or 
claims  under  the  Iiepublic. 

26  Adfines. — Persons  connected  by  marriage  only  were 
called  (i(lfl)ies^  as  a  wife  with  her  husband's  cognates  and 
he  with  hers.  There  were  no  formal  degrees  of  adflnitds^ 
as  there  were  of  ('(Hjndtid,  Those  adfines  for  whom  dis- 
tinctive names  were  in  common  use  were:  (je)ie)\  son-in- 
law;  nurns^  daughter-in-law;  so('gi\  father-in-law;  socrns, 
motheY-m-\ii\i',  prlrignus, prlrigna^  step-son,  step-daughter; 
rifricus^  step-father;  norercff^  step-mother.  If  we  compare 
these  names  with  the  awkward  compounds  that  do  duty  for 
them  in  English,  we  shall  have  additional  proof  of  the  stress 
laid  by  the  Romans  on  family  ties:  two  women  Avho  married 
brothers  were  called  idnlfrlrex,  a  relationship  for  which  we 
do  not  have  even  a  compound.  The  names  of  blood  rela- 
tions tell  the  same  story:  a  glance  at  the  table  of  cognates 
will  show  how  strong  the  Latin  is  here,  how  weak  the 
English.  We  have  "uncle,"  ''aunt,"  and  "cousin,"  but 
between  acHiicnliis  and  patruus^  mdleiiera  and  ((f/iifa^  jjalru- 
elis  and  cfnisobrlnns,  we  can  distinguish  only  by  descriptive 
phrases.  Eor  atacus  and  Iritaras  we  have  merely  the  indefi- 
nite "forefathers."  In  the  same  way  the  language  testifies 
to  the  headship  of  the  father.  AVe  speak  of  the  "mother 
country"  and  "mother  tongue,"  but  to  the  Roman  these 
were  patria  and  sr^no  jHifrins.  As  the  pater  stood  to  the 
flJius^  so  stood  i\\(i  ptth'onas  to  Wad  die)is^  i\\Q  patriri'i  io 
ihepIe/jeiJ,  the  jjaires  (^senators)  to  the  rest  of  the  citizens, 
and  lupiter  (Jove  the  Eather)  to  the  other  gods  of  Olympus. 

27  The  Family  Cult. — It  has  been  said  (§2:))  that  agndtio 
was  the  closest  tie  known  to  the  Romans.  The  importance 
they  attached  to  the  agnatic  family  is  largely  explained  by 


THE    FAMILY 


29 


their  ideas  of  the  future  life.  They  believed  that  the  souls 
of  men  had  an  existence  apart  from  the  body,  but  not  in  a 
separate  spirit-land.  They  conceived  of  the  soul  as  hover- 
ing around  the  place  of  burial  and  requiring  for  its  peace 
and  happiness  that  offerings  of  food  and  drink  should  be 
made  to  it  regularly.  Should  these  otferings  be  discontin- 
ued, the  soul  would  cease  to  be  happy  itself,  and  might 
l)ecome  perhaps  a  spirit  of  evil.  The  maintenance  of  these 
rites  and  ceremonies  devolved  naturally  upon  the  descend- 
ants from  generation  to  generation,  whom  the  spirits  in  turn 

would  2:uide  and  guard. 

The  Roman  was  bound,  therefore,  to  perform  these  acts  28 
of  affection  and  piety  so  long  as  he  lived  himself,  and  bound 
no   less  to  provide  for  their   per- 
formance after  his  death  by  perpet- 
uating  his  race  and  the  family  cult. 
A  curse  was  believed  to  rest  upon 
the  childless  man.     ]\Iarriage  was, 
therefore,  a  solemn  religious  duty, 
entered  into  only  with  the  approval 
of  the  gods  ascertained  by  the  aus- 
l)ices.     In  taking  a  wife  to  himself 
the  Roman  made  her  a  partaker  of 
his  family  mysteries,  a  service  that 
brooked  no  divided  allegiance.    He 
therefore    separated    her    entirely 
from  her  father's  family,  and  was 
ready    in    turn    to   surrender    his 
daughter   without   reserve    to    the 
husband   with   whom    she   was   to 
minister    at    another    altar.     The 

pater  famiUds  was  the  priest  of   the  household,  and  those 
subject  to  his  potestas  assisted  in  the  prayers  and  offerings, 

the  sarra  familidria. 

But  it  might  be  that  a  marriage  was  fruitless,  or  that  the  29 


Fir.UKE  2. 
Lrcirs  Jitnits  Brutxts 


30 


TTTE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    FAMILY 


31 


Head  of  the  House  ^:aw  liis  sons  die  before  him.  In  this 
case  he  had  to  face  the  prospect  of  the  extinction  of  his  fam- 
ily, and  his  own  descent  to  the  grave  with  no  posterity  to 
make  him  blessed.  One  of  two  alternatives  was  open  to 
him  to  avert  such  a  calamity.  lie  might  give  himself  in 
adoption  and  pass  into  another  family  in  which  the  perpet- 
uation of  the  family  cult  seemed  certain,  or  he  might  adopt 
a  son  and  thus  perpetuate  his  own.  He  usually  followed 
the  latter  course,  because  it  secured  peace  for  the  souls  of 
his  ancestors  no  less  than  for  his  own. 
30  Adoption. — The  person  adopted  might  be  either  a  ^^^//tv 
familids  himself  or,  more  usually,  nflJiHs  /(O/n'Iids.  In  the 
case  of  the  latter  the  process  was  called  adojUid  and  was  a 
somewhat  complicated  proceeding  by  which  the  natural 
parent  conveyed  his  son  to  the  other,  the  effect  being  to 
transfer  the  adopted  person  from  one  family  to  the  other. 
The  adoption  of  a  jjater  familids  was  a  much  more  serious 
matter,  for  it  involved  the  extinction  of  one  family  (^--O  i'^ 
order  to  prevent  the  extinction  of  another.  It  was  called 
(ulrojiafio  and  was  an  affair  of  state.  It  had  to  be  sanctioned 
1)y  the  pontiJice,s^  the  highest  officers  of  religion,  who 
had  probably  to  make  sure  that  the  ailvaijdi us  had  brothers 
enough  to  attend  to  the  interests  of  the  ancestors  whose  cult 
he  was  renouncing.  If  the  jxndifii'es  gave  their  consent,  it 
had  still  to  be  sanctioned  bv  the  comitia  cetitiiridfiu  as  the 
adrogation  might  deprive  the  (jens  of  its  succession  to  the 
property  of  the  childless  man  (§'22).  If  the  coHiitia  gave 
consent,  the  ((dnKjdf hs  sunk  from  the  position  of  Head  of  a 
House  to  that  of  a  fViiis  f((/nilids  in  the  household  of  his 
adoptive  father.  If  ho  had  wife  and  children,  they  passed 
with  him  into  the  new  family,  and  so  did  all  his  property. 
Over  him  the  a(l()})tive  father  had  [Htfcstds  as  over  a  son  of 
his  own,  and  looked  u])on  him  as  flesh  of  his  flesh  and  bone 
of  his  bone.     AVe  can  have  at  best  onhiifcfeeble  and  inade- 


>It 


•  ^1 


quate  notion  of  what  adoption  meant  tufuie  liomaiis. 


The  Patria  Potestas. — The  authority  of  W\q  pdfrr  fainllids  si 
over  his  descendants  was  called  usually  the  pdfria  2)()testds^ 
but  also  the  jHffrla  viaiesfds^  the  j)((frif(ui  //(.v,  and  the 
wiperium  imternum.  It  was  carried  to  a  greater  length  by 
the  Romans  than  l)y  any  other  people,  a  length  that  seems 
to  us  excessive  and  cruel.  As  they  understood  it,  \X\^  pater 
fun) ill dx  had  absolute  power  over  his  children  and  other 
agnatic  descendants.  He  decided  whether  or  not  the  new- 
born child  should  be  reared;  he  punished  what  he  regarded 
as  misconduct  with  penalties  as  severe  as  banishment, 
slavery,  aiul  death ;  he  alone  could  own  and  exchange  j)rop- 
erty — all  that  his  descendants  earned  or  acquired  in  any  way 
was  his:  according  to  the  letter  of  the  law  they  were  little 
better  than  his  chattels.  If  his  right  to  one  of  them  was  dis- 
puted, he  vindicated  it  by  the  same  form  of  action  that  he 
used  to  maintain  his  right  to  a  house  or  a  horse;  if  one  was 
stolen,  he  proceeded  against  the  abductor  by  the  ordinary 
action  for  theft;  if  for  any  reason  he  wished  to  transfer  one 
of  them  to  a  third  person,  it  was  done  by  the  same  form  of 
conveyance  that  he  employed  to  transfer  inanimate  things. 
The  jurists  boasted  that  these  powers  were  enjoyed  by 
Ixoman  citizens  only. 

Limitations. — But  however  stern  this  authority  was  theo-  32 
retically,  it  was  greatly  modified  in  practice,  under  the 
liepublic  by  custom,  under  the  Empire  by  law.  King 
liomulus  was  said  to  have  ordained  that  all  sons  shoidd  be 
reared  and  also  all  firstborn  daughters;  furthermore  that 
no  child  should  be  put  to  death  until  its  third  year,  unless 
it  was  grievously  deformed.  This  at  least  secured  life  for 
the  child,  though  iha  jxtfrr  /(tiniUds  still  decided  whetluM*  it 
should  be  admitted  to  his  household,  with  the  implied  social 
and  religious  privileges,  or  be  disowned  and  become  an  out- 
cast. King  Xuma  was  said  to  have  forbidden  the  sale  into 
slavery  of  a  son  who  had  married  with  the  consent  of  his 
father.      But  of  much  greater  importance  was  the  check  put 


52 


TIIK    I'RIVATK    Ml-K    OF    THE    KO.MANS 


THE    FAMILY 


33 


r 


upon  arhitrarv  and  cruel  punishments  by  custom.  Custom, 
aot  law,  obligc3.1  the  jxi/n'  /'nni/irts  to  call  a  council  of  rela- 
tives and  friends  {ifi-iJirinni  >li,mrsfi(:iiiii)  when  he  contem- 
plated inflicting  severe  punishment  upon  his  children,  and 
public  opinion  obliged  him  to  abide  by  their  verdict.  Even 
in  the  comparutivelv  few  cases  where  tradition  tells  us  that 
tlie  death  penalty  was  actually  inflicted,  we  usually  find  that 
the  father  acted  in  the  capacity  of  a  magistrate  happening 
t(.  be  in  office  when  the  offense  was  committed,  or  that  the 
penalties  of  the  ordinary  law  were  merely  anticipated,  per- 
liaps  to  avoid  the  disgrace  of  a  public  trial  and  execution. 

33        So,  too,  in  regard  to  the  ownership  of  property  the  con- 
ditions were  not  really  so  hard  as  the  strict  letter  of  the  law 
makes  them  appear  to  us.     It  was  custonuiry  for  the  Head 
of  the  House  to  assign  to  his  children  property,  prrnlin 
("cattle  of  their  own"'),  for  them  to  manage  for  their  own 
benefit.     And  more  than  this,  although  the  peter  fa miJios 
lield   legal  title   to   all    their   acquisitions,    yet   practically 
all  property  was  acquired  for  and  belonged  to  the  household 
as  a  whole,  and  he  was  in  eflfect  little  more  than   a  trtistee 
to  hold  and  administer  it  for  the  common  benefit.     This  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  there  was  no  graver  offense  against 
public  morals,  no  fouler  blot  on  private  character,  than  to 
prove  untrue  to  this  trust,  patvimdninm  profumlrr,'.    Besides 
this,  the  long  continuance  of  the  p<dext<U  is  in  itself  a  proof 
that  its  rigor  was  more  apparent  than  real. 

34       Extinction   of  the  Potestas.— The  palria   pulvslas    was 
extinguished  in  various  ways: 

1.  Bv    the    death    of    the    piih'r  /(iniilids,  as   has  been 

« 

expliiined  in  §l'>. 

2.  By  the  emanoipalion  of  the  son  or  daugliter. 

^,\,   By  the  loss  of  citizenship  hy  either  father  or  son. 

4'   it  the  son  became  a  Jldmen  dirdL^  or  the  danghter  a 

^5.   If  either  father  or  chihl  was  adopted  by  a  third  party. 


s 


35 


0.  If  the  daughter  pas.-ed  hy  formal  marriage  into  the 
power  {//f  /ii(ffnf/)i)  of  a  husl)and,  though  this  did  not  esseu- 
tially  change  her  dependent  condition  (>^-)o). 

7.   If  the  son  became  a  pn])lic  magistrate.      In  this  case 
ihii  j)o/esf(ls  was  snspended  during  the  period  of  ofRce,  bnt 
after  it  expired  the  father  might  hold 
the  son  acconntable  for  his  acts,  pnh- 
lic  and  private,  while  holding  the  mag- 
istracy. 

Manus. — The  subject  of  marriage 
will  be  considered  later;  at  this 
point  it  is  only  necessary  to  define 
the  power  over  the  wife  possessed  by 
the  hnsband  in  its  most  extreme 
form,  called  by  the  llomans  iiuoiHS. 
By  the  oldest  and  most  solemn 
form  of  marriage  the  wife  was 
separated  entirely  from  her  father's 
family  (§'^8)  and  passed  into  her 
husband's  power  or  ''hand"  {am- 
veufio  in  manuin).  This  assumes, 
of  course,  that  he  was  .^^itl  iilris; 
if  he  was  not,  then  though  nominally 
in  his  "hand"  she  was  really  subject  as  he  was  to  his  jHtfer 
fa  m  Hi  (Is.  Any  property  she  had  of  her  own,  and  to  have  had 
any  she  must  have  been  independent  before  her  marriage, 
passed  to  him  as  a  matter  of  course.  If  she  had  none,  her 
2)((fer  familids  furnished  a  dowry  {dns)^  which  shared  the  same 
fate.  Whatever  she  acquired  by  her  industry  or  otherwise 
while  the  marriage  lasted  also  became  her  husband's.  80 
far,  therefore,  as  property  rights  were  concerned  the  mcnufs 
differed  in  no  respect  from  the  pr/fria  pofesfds:  the  wife  was 
in  lord  flJii(f\  and  on  the  husband's  death  took  a  daughter's 

share  in  his  estate. 

In  other  respects  iUditns  conferred  more  limited  power's.  36 


Africa  NITS 


34 


THE     IMMVATK     LIFE    OF    THE    TJOMAXS 


> 


The  liiisbaii'l  \va^^  required  by  law,  iioL  merely  ol)liged  ])y 
eustom,  to  refer  alleged  iiiLscoudiiet  of  his  wife  to  the 
iflf/lrium  (hmesticnm,  and  this  was  composed  in  part  of  her 
cognates  (§25).  He  could  put  her  away  for  certain  grave 
offenses  only;  if  he  divorced  her  without  good  cause  he 
was  punished  with  the  loss  of  all  his  property.  lie  could 
not   sell  her  at  all.     In  short,  public   opinion  and  custom 

operated  even  more  strongly 
for  her  protection  than  for 
that  of  her  children.  It  must 
be  noticed,  therefore,  that 
the  chief  distinction  between 
manus  and  ^?r^//'m  ^^ofC'Stds  lay 
in  the  fact  that  the  former 
was  a  legal  relationship  based 
upon  the  consent  of  the 
weaker  party,  while  the  latter 
was  a  natural  relationship 
antecedent  to  all  law  and 
choice. 

Dominica  Potestas.  —  The 
right  of  ownership  in  his 
property  {domin ica  potestas) 
was  absolute  in  the  case  of  a 
2mter  faniilids  and  has  been 
sufficiently  explained  in  pre- 
ceding paragraphs.  This  ownership  included  slaves  as  well 
as  inanimate  things,  and  slaves  as  well  as  inanimate  things 
were  mere  chattels  in  the  eyes  of  the  law.  The  influence  of 
custom  and  public  opinion,  so  far  as  these  tended  to  miti- 
gating the  horrors  of  their  condition,  will  be  discussed  later. 
It  will  be  suflficient  to  say  here  that  there  was  nothing  to 
which  the  slave  could  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  his  mas- 
ter.    It  was  final  and  absolute. 


FlOUKE  4. 

Lucius  Cornelius  Sulla 


ClIAinn^R  II 

THE  NAME 

Beferenoes:  Marqiiardt,  7-27;  Voip^t,  311,  316 f.,  454;  Pauly-Wissowa,  under 
cognonieii;  Sniitli,  Harper,  and  Liibker,  under  nonun. 

See  also:  Egbert,  '^^.atin  Inscriptions,"  Chapter  IV;  Cagnat,  "Cours  d'Epi- 
graphie  Latine,"  C^hapter  I;  Hiibner,  "Romische  Epii^raphik,"  pp.  65:^680  of 
Mailer's  IIan<Umrh.  Vol  I. 

The  Triple  Name. — Nothing  is  more  familiar  to  the  38 
student  of  Latin  than  the  fact  that  the  I\omans  Avhose  works 
he  reads  first  have  each  a  threefold  name,  Caius  Julius 
Caesar,  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero,  Tublins  A^ergilius  Maro. 
This  was  the  system  that  prevailed  in  the  best  days  of  the 
Kepublic,  but  it  was  itself  a  development,  starting  with  a  ' 
more  simple  form  in  earlier  times  and  ending  in  utter  con- 
fusion under  the  Empire.  The  earliest  legends  of  Rome 
show  us  single  names,  Itomulus,  Eemus,  Faustulus;  but  side 
by  side  with  these  we  find  also  double  names,  Numa  Pom- 
pilius,  Ancus  Marcius,  TuUus  Ilostilius.  It  is  possible  that 
single  names  were  the  earliest  fashion,  but  when  we  pass 
from  legends  to  real  history  the  oldest  names  that  we  find 
are  double,  the  second  being  always  in  the  genitive  case, 
representing  the  father  or  the  Head  of  the  House:  Marcus 
Marci,  Caecilia  Metelli.  A  little  later  these  genitives  were 
followed  by  the  letter  /  (for  f'dins  or  f'di(()  or  uxor,  to 
denote  the  relationship.  Later  still,  but  very  anciently 
nevertheless,  Ave  find  the  f  reeborn  man  in  possession  of  the 
three  names  with  which  we  are  familiar,  the  ndmen  to  mark 
the  clan  {(je)is),  the  a)(j)idme)i  to  mark  the  family,  and  the 
pravitdinen  to  mark  the  individual.     The  regular  order  of 

85 


36 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


the  three  names  hprrfrndmrn,  nowni,  rofpinmon,  jilthough  in 
poetry   the  order  is  often   changed  to   adapt   the  ]ianie   to 

the  meter. 
39        Great   formality   required   even    more    than    tlie    three 
names.     In  ofhcial  documents  and  in  the  state  records   it 
was  usual  to  insert  between  a  man's  nonien  and  nHiHonnni 
i\\(i  pntn)niinu(f  of  his  father,  grandfather,  and  great-grand- 
father, and  sometimes 
even  the  name  of  the 
tribe  to  which  he  be- 
longed.       So      f'icero 
might  write  his  name: 
M.  Tullius  M.    f.  M. 
n.  M.  pr.  Cor.  Cicero; 
that    is,  jMarcus  Tul- 
lius ('icero,son  (flJiffs) 
of   Marcus,    grandson 
{)/e])d^)      of     Marcus, 
great-grandson     ( pro- 
nepos)   of    Marcus,  of 
the  tribe  Cornelia.   See 
another     example     in 

On  the  other  hand 
even  the  triple  name 
Avas  too  long  for  ordi- 
nary use.  Children,  slaves,  and  intimate  friends  addressed 
the  citizen,  master,  and  friend  by  his  praendmni  only. 
Ordinary  acquaintances  used  the  cognomen  with  the 
praendmen  prefixed  for  emphatic  address.  In  earnest 
appeals  we  find  the  nonien  also  used,  with  sometimes  the 
praeudmen  or  the  possessive  ml  prefixed.  When  two  only  of 
the  three  names  are  thus  used  in  familiar  intercourse  the 
order  varies.  IE  the  praendmeN  is  one  of  the  two,  it  always 
stands  first,  except  in  the  poets  for  metrical  reasons  and  in 


Fi<ji:re  5.      MAUcrs  TrLLJis  CicKito 


/ 


THE    NAME 


rv 


37 


a  few  places  in  prose  Avhere  the  text  is  uncertain.  If  the 
praendmen  is  omitted,  the  arrangement  varies:  the  older 
writers  and  Cicero  put  the  CAHjndinen  first,  Ahdla  ServiUus 
(Cic.  Milo,  3,  8:  cf.  C,  Servilius  AlidJa,  Cat.  I.,  1,  3).  Caesar 
puts  the  ndmen  first;  Horace,  Livy,  and  Tacitus  have  both 
arrangements,  while  Pliny  adheres  to  Caesar's  usage.  It 
will  be  convenient  to  consider  the  three  names  separately, 
and  to  discuss  the  mimes  of  men  before  considering  those  of 
the  other  members  of  the  familia. 

The  Praenomen. — The  number  of  names  used  as  pnte-^l 
ndmina  seems  to  us  preposterously  small  as  compared  with 
our  Christian  names,  to  which  they  in  some  measure  corre- 
spond. It  was  never  much  in  excess  of  thirty,  and  in 
Sulla's  time  had  dwindled  to  eighteen.  The  full  list  is 
given  by  the  authorities  Jiamed  above,  but  the  following  are 
all  that  are  often  found  in  our  school  and  college  authors : 
Aulit^  (J),  DecimHs  (/>),  (rdias  (T),  Gnaeus  (CX),  Kae- 
.so  (A'),  Lftclus  (7v),  JIfhn'ns  (J/'),  Ma  reus  {M),  Pn/Z/ins  (7^), 
Qnlnius  ((/),  Servlus  {SEli),  Sextus  {SEX),  Spur  las  {S), 
Tiberius  {TI),  and  Tifus  (7').  The  forms  of  these  names 
were  not  absolutely  fixed,  and  we  find  for  Gnaeus  the  forms 
(hudros  (early),  Xaenis,  Xaeus,  and  Gneus  (rare);  so  also 
for  Sercius  we  find  Sergius,  the  two  forms  going  back  to 
an  ancient  Serguius.  The  abbreviations  also  vary:  for 
Aulus  we  find  regularly  .1,  but  also  .1  T^  and  AVL;  for 
Sextus  we  find  SEXT  and  >S'  as  well  as  SEX,  and  similar 
variations  are  found  in  the  case  of  other  names. 

But  small  as  this  list  seems  to  us  the  natural  con-  42 
servatism  of  the  Romans  found  in  it  a  chance  to  display 
itself,  and  the  great  families  repeated  the  names  of  their 
children  from  generation  to  generation  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  the  identification  of  the  individual  very  difficult  in 
modern  times.  Thus  the  Aemilii  contented  themselves 
with  seven  of  these  praeudu)ina,  Gdius^  Gnaeus,  Lucius^ 
Mdnius^  Marcus,  Qulntus,  and   Tiberius,  but  used  in  addi- 


38 


THE    PRIVATE     LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    NAME 


39 


tioii  one  that  is  not  found  in  any  other  gens,  Mrnnercus 
{MAM).  The  Clandii  used  six,  (tcIuis^  Decimus^  Lficins, 
Fublins^  Tiheriiis^  and  Qulnftfs^  witli  tlie  additional  name 
^lj)j)iH,s  {APJ^)^  of  Sabine  origin,  wliicli  they  brought  to 
Home.  The  Cornelii  used  seven,  Aulus^  Chiaeus^  LucIhs^ 
Marcus^  PuhJins^  Servius^  and  Tiherins.  A  still  smaller 
number  sufficed  for  the  eTulian  gens,  Gditis^  Lucius^  and 
Sextiis^  with  the  name  ]^()j)iscf{s^  which  went  out  of  use  in 
very  early  times.  And  even  these  selections  were  subject  to 
further  limitations.  Thus,  of  the  fje/is  CUtudia  only  one 
branch  {>^firj)s)^  known  as  the  Clandii  Xoronex,  used  the 
names  Decimus  and  Tilfcrius^  and  out  of  the  seven  names 
used  in  the  (jens  (^or)ielia  the  branch  of  the  Scipios  {Coruelil 
Srqjiones)  used  only  (inaeiis^  LftciKs^  and  Pfihrnis.  Even 
after  a  j)rae)tompn  had  found  a  place  in  a  given  family,  it 
might  be  deliberately  discarded  :  thus,  the  Claudii  gave  up  the 
(.^^nanie  Lilrius  and  the  Manlii  the  name  Marcus  on  account  of 
the  disgrace  brought  upon  their  families  by  men  who  bore 
these  names;  and  the  Antonii  never  used  the  name  Mdrcui< 
\ff ter  the  downfall  of  the  famous  triumvir,  Marcus  Antonius. 
4S  From  the  list  of  names  usual  in  his  family  the  father  gave 
one  to  his  son  on  the  ninth  day  after  his  birth,  the  dies  luslrl' 

CHS.    It  was  a  custom  then,  one  that  seems 
natural  enough  in   our  own  times,  for  the 
father  to  give  his  own  pracNdaic^i  to  his  first- 
born son;    Cicero's   name    (§39)    shows  the 
name  Marcus  four  times  repeated,  and  it  is 
probable  that  he  came  from  a  long  line  of 
eldest  sons.    AAlien  these  names  were  first 
given   they    must    have    been   chosen   witli 
due    regard  to  their  etymological  meanings  and  have  had 
some  relation  to  the  circumstances  attending    the  birth    of 
the   child:  Livy  in  speaking  of  the  mythical  Silvius  Aeneas 
gives  us   to    understand  that   he    received    his   first   name 
because  he  was  born  in  a  forest  {silva). 


FlQURK  (5. 
Caksak 


So,  Lucius  meant  originally  ''born  by  day,"  Mduius^^^ 
"born  in  the  morning";  Qu'infus^  Sextus^  Decimus^ 
Poshimus^  etc.,  indicated  the  succession  in  the  family; 
Tullus  was  connected  Avith  the  verb  tollere  in  the  sense  of 
''acknowledge"  (§95),  Sereins  with  ^eredre^  Gdius  with 
(/(fudHre.  Otliers  are  associated  with  the  name  of  some 
divinity,  as  Mdrcus  and  Mdtnercus  with  Mars,  and  TlberiuH 
with  the  river  god  Tiberis.  But  these  meanings  in  the 
course  of  time  were  forgotten  as  completely  as  we  have 
forgotten  the  meanings  of  our  Christian  names,  aiid  even 
the  numerals  were  employed  with  no  reference  to  their 
proper  force:  Cicero's  only  brother  was  called  Quuitus. 

The  abbreviation  of  the  praenomeii  was  not  a  matter  of  45 
mere  caprice,  as  is  the  writing  of  initials  with  us,  but  was 
an    established  custom,   indicating  perhaps 
Eoman  citizenship.  Thepraoiofuoi  was  writ- 
ten out  in  full  only  when  it  was  used  by  itself 
or  when  it  belonged  to  a  person  in   one  of 
the  lower  classes  of  society.     When  Itoman 
names  are  carried  over  into  English,  they 
should    always    be  written  out  in  full    and 
pronounced  accordingly.     In  the  same  way, 
when  Ave  read  a  Latin  autht)r  and  find  a  name  abbreviated, 
the   full    name    should  always    be   pronounced    if    we  read 
aloud  or  translate. 

The  Nomen.— This,  the  all-important  name,  is  called  for  46 
greater  precision  the  nOuien  genlile  and  the  mmen  (jeuflli- 
ciuui.  The  child  inherited  it,  as  one  inherits  his  surname 
now,  and  there  was,  therefore,  no  choice  or  selection  about 
it.  The  nomen  ended  originally  in  -ins,  and  this  ending 
was  sacredly  preserved  by  the  patrician  families:  the  endings 
-eius^  -aius^  -aens,  and  -ens  are  merely  variations  from  it. 
Other  eiulings  point  to  a  non-Latin  origin  of  the  gens. 
Tliose  in  -dens  {Arididcus)  are  Gallic,  those  in  -}ia  {(laeclna) 
are  Etruscan,   those  in   'Cuus  or  -iHnus    {SaleldiUnus)    are 


FrGTRE  7. 

Augustus 


\ 


c^ 


40 


THE    TKIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


I 


THE    NAME 


41 


irmbriciii  or  Piecne.  Some  others  tire  formed  from  the 
name  of  the  town  from  wliich  the  family  s})raiig,  either  with 
the  reguhir  terminations  -dims  and  -ensis  {Albdnus^  Xor- 
hdiius^  Aquiliensi.^)^  or  with  the  suffix  -lu.s  (Prrifsins^ 
rarnieit^ius)  in  imitation  of  the  okler  and  more  aristocratic 
use.  Standing  entirely  apart  is  the  nonivn  of  the  notorious 
iidius  Verres,  which  looks  like  a  coynomen  out  of  place 
(§55). 

47  The  nomen  belonged  by  custom  to  all  connected  with  the 
gens,  to  the  plebeian  as  well  as  the  patrician  branches,  to 
men,  women,  clients,  and  freedmen  without  distinction.  It 
was  perhaps  the  natural  desire  to  separate  themselves  from 
the  mere  humble  bearers  of  their  ndnf(^n  that  led  patrician 
families  to  use  a  limited  number  of  ])r((('ndi)n)i((,  avoiding 
those  used  by  their  chmsmen  of  inferior  social  standing. 
At  any  rate  it  is  noticealde  that  the  plebeian  families,  as 
soon  as  political  nobility  and  the  busts  in  their  halls  gave 
them  a  standing  above  their  fellows,  showed  the  same 
exclusiveness  in  the  selection  of  names  for  their  children 
that  the  patricians  had  disphiyed  before  them  (§42). 

48  The  Cognomen.— Ik^sides  the  individual  name  and  the 
name  that  marked  his  fjeiis,  the  Eoman  had  often  a  third 

name,  called  the  coiinhinvn^  that 
served  to  indicate  the  family  or 
branch  of  the  (jlii}^  to  which  he 
belonged.  Almost  all  the  great 
flt'iif(i.s  were  thus  divided,  some  of 
them  into  numerous  branches. 
Tlie  Corneliaii  gens,  for  example, 
included  the  plebeian  Dolabellae, 
Lentuli,  Cethegi,  and  Cinnae,  in 
addition  to  the  pati'ician  Scipiones, 
Maluginenses,  Rufini,  etc.  The 
recognition  of  a  group  of  clansmen  as  such  a  branch,  or 
sti^'VSj    and    as    entitled    to    transmit    a    common    cognotneu 


FuaiHi':  ?s.     Neko 


re({uired  the  formal  consent  of  the  wliole  (jnis^  and  carried 
Avith  it  the  loss  of  certain  privileges  as  (jriiflles  Ao  the 
members  of  the  sfirps. 

From  the  fact  that  in  the  ofhcial  name  (§')0)  the  49 
rinjiwiiwn  followed  the  name  of  the  tribe,  it  is  generally 
believed  that  the  oldest  of  these  nHjHdinina  did  not  go  back 
beyond  the  time  of  the  division  of  the  people  into  tribes.  I^  \ 
is  also  generally  believed  that  the  cofiifdnnni  was  originally  a 
nickname,  bestowed  on  account  of  some  personal  peculiarity 
or  characteristic,  sometimes  as  a  compliment,  sometimes  in 
derision.  So,  we  find  many  pointing  at  physical  traits, 
such  w^  Albiis^  B((rhdf)(s^  CinriundfHs^  ('haidus^  Loiujux  (all 
originally  adjectives),  and  the  nouns  Xdso  and  Capita  (''the 
nuin  with  a  nose,"  ''with  a  head'');  others  refer  to  the 
temperament,  such  as  Brnlfjjuis^  JUnndiis^  Catu^  Serenas^ 
Secerns;  others  still  denote  origin,  such  as  GdlJus^  Li(jus^ 
Sdh'uius^  Sicuhis^  Tu.scus,  These  names,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, descended  from  father  to  son,  and  would  naturally 
lose  tJieir  appropriateness  as  they  passed  along,  until  in  the 
course  of  time  their  meanings  were  entirely  lost  sight  of,  as 
were  those  of  tho  prfteno/nuia  (§^-4). 

Under  the  Kepublic  the  patricians  had  almost  without  50 
exception  this  third  or  family  name;  we  are  told  of  but  one 
man,  Caius  Marcius,  who  lacked  the  distinction.  With  the 
])lebeians  the  cognoinen  was  not  so  common,  perhaps  its 
possession  was  the  exception.  The  great  families  of  the 
Marii,  Mummii,  and  Sertorii  had  none,  although  the 
plebeian  l)ranches  of  the  Cornelian  gens  (i;4S),  the  TuUian 
gens,  and  others,  did.  The  cognotneii  came,  therefore,  to  be 
prized  as  an  indication  of  ancient  lineage,  and  individuals 
whoso  nobility  was  iiew  were  anxious  to  acquire  it  to 
transmit  to  their  children.  Hence  many  assumed  e(uj)ibia\)iii 
of  their  own  selection.  Some  of  these  were  conceded  by 
])ubHc  opinion  as  theii-  due,  as  in  the  case  of  (yuaeus  Pom- 
peius,    who    took   McKjaus   as   his   coijnbnien.     Others   were 


42 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    NAME 


43 


derided  by  their  contemporaries,  as  we  deride  the  made-to- 
order  coat  of  arms  of  some  nineteenth  century  upstart.  It 
is  probable,  however,  that  only  nobles  ventured  to  assume 
cogndmina  under  the  llepiiblic,  though  uiuler  the  Empire 
their  possession  was  hardly  more  than  the  badge  of  freedom. 

51  Additional  Names.— Besides  the  three  names  already 
described,  we  find  not  infrequently,  even  in  Republican 
times,  a  fourth  or  fifth.  These  were  also  called  cugndinhia 
by  a  loose  extension  of  the  word,  until  in  the  fourth  century 

.  of  our  era  the  name  a(j}(diiu)i((  w^as  given  them  by  the 
grammarians.     They  may  be  conveniently  considered  under 

four  heads: 

In  the  first  place,  the  process  that  divided  the  gens  into 
branches  might  be  continued  even  further.  That  is,  as  the 
(jens  became  numerous  enough  to  throw  off  a  stlrps,  so  the 
stirps  in  process  of  time  might  throw  off  a  branch  of  itself, 
for  which  there  is  no  better  name  than  the  vague  /W/// /7m. 
This  actually  happened  very  frequently:  the  (JChs  ConieUa, 
for  example,  threw  off  the  sflrps  of  the  Scljnones,  and  these 
in  turn  the  family  or  "house^'  of  the  Xilslrae.  So  we  find 
the  quadruple  name  Publiu.s  Cornelias  Sclpio  Xaslca,  in 
which  the  last  name  was  probably  given  very  much  in  the 
same  way  as  ih^  third  had  been  given  before  the  division 

took  place. 

52        In  the  second  place,  when  a  man  passed  from  one  family 

to  another  by  adoption   (§:5())  he  regularly  took  the  three 

names   of  his  adoptive  father   and    added   his   own   nomni 

genflle    with    the    suffix    -(Inus.     Thus,     Lucius    Aemilius 

Paulus,   the   son   of  Lucius   Aemilius   Paulus   Macedonicus 

(see  §53  for  the  last  name),   was  adopted  by  Publius   Vov- 

nelius  Scipio,  and  took  as  his  new  name  PiUUu^  Cornelius 

Sclpio  AemiJUhnis,     In  the  same  way,  w^hen  Cains  Octavius 

Caepias  wa?  adopted   by   Caius  Julius   Caesar,   he  became 

(kliiis    hVius    Caesar    Orfdridnas,   and    is  hence  variously 

styled  Octavius  and  Octavianus  in  the  histories. 


^r 


\\ 


In  the  third  place,  an  additional  name,  sometimes  called  53 
cognofnefi  ex  rirffife,  w^as  often  given  by  acclamation  to  a 
great  statesman  or  victorious  general,  and  was  put  after  his 
C(fgnon)en.  A  well  known  example  is  the  name  of  Publius 
Cornelius  Scipio  Africanus,  the  last  name  having  been 
given  him  after  his  defeat  of  Hannibal.  In  the  same  way, 
his  grandson  by  adoption,  the  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio 
Aemilianus  mentioned  above,  received  the  same  honorable 
name  after  he  had  destroyed  Carthage,  and  was  called 
PuhVius  Cornelius  Scipio  Afrirdnus  Aeunlidnus.  Such  a 
name  is  Macedonicus  given  to  Lucius  Aemilius  Paulas  for 
his  defeat  of  Persens,  and  the  title  Augustus  given  by  the 
senate  to  Octavianus.  It  is  not  certainly  known  whether  or 
not  these  names  passed  by  inheritance  to  the  descendants  of 
those  who  originally  earned  them,  but  it  is  probable  that  the 
eldest  son  only  w^as  strictlv  entitled  to  take  his  father's  title 

of  honor. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  fact  that  a  man  had  inherited  a  54 
nickname  from  his  ancestors  in  the  form  of  a  rognduirn 
(§40)  did  not  prevent  his  receiving  another  from  some 
personal  characteristic,  especially  as  the  inherited  name  had 
often  no  application,  as  we  have  seen,  to  its  later  possessor. 
To  somo  ancient  Publius  Cornelius  was  given  the  nickname 
Srlplo  (§40),  and  in  the  course  of  time  this  was  taken  by  all 
his  descendants  without  thought  of  its  appropriateness  and 
l)ecame  a  rognonien;  then  to  one  of  these  descendants  was 
given  another  nickname  for  personal  reasons,  Xdslcn^  and  in 
course  of  time  it  lost  its  individuality  aiul  became  the  name 
of  .a  whole  family  (§51);  then  in  precisely  the  same  way  a 
member  of  this  family  became  prominent  enough  to  need  a 
separate  name  and  was  called  Corruluni,  his  full  name  being 
Puhllus  Cornelius  Srlpid  Xdslra  Corrulum.  It  is  evident 
that  there  is  no  reason  why  the  expansion  should  not  have 
continued  indefinitely.  Such  names  are  Publius  (^ornelius 
Lentulus  Spinther,   Quintns  Caecilius   Metellus   Celer,  and 


44 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF   THE    ROMANS 


THE    NAME 


45 


Tubliirs  Cornelias  Scipio  Xasica  Serapio.  Tt  is  also  evident 
that  we  can  not  always  distinguish  between  a  mere  nick- 
name, one  belonging  strictly  to  this  paragraph,  and  the 
additional  rotjudmen  that  marked  the  family  ott*  from  the 
rest  of  the  stlrps  to  which  it  belonged.  It  is  perfectly 
possible  that  the  name  Spinther  mentioned  above  has  as 
good    a   right   as    Nasica   to    a   place   in    the  first  division 

(Sol). 
55        Confusion  of  Names.— A  system  so  elaborate  as  that  we 

have   described   was   almost   sure   to   be  misunderstood  or 
misapplied,  and  in  the  later  days  of  the  liepnblic  and  under 
the  Empire  we  find  all  law  and  order  disregarded.     The  giv- 
ing of  the  pranidmefi  to  the  child  seems  to  have  been  delayed 
too  long  sometimes,  and  burial  inscriptions  are  numerous 
which  have  in  place  of  a  first  name  the  word  pftpus  (PV/') 
''child,''    showing    that    the    little   one  had  died  unnamecl 
One  such  inscription  gives  the  age  of  the  unnamed  child  as 
sixteen  years.     Then  confusion  was  caused  by  the  misuse  of 
the  prarnouien.     Sometimes   two  are  found  in  one    name, 
e.g.,  PfihJim  Aelius  Alieniis  Arrhddius  Marcus.     Sometimes 
words  ending  like  the  nomen  in  -im  were  used  as  pntr- 
uniDimt:    Cicero  tells  us  that  one  Xumevius  Qiilnllus  Pftfff.s 
owed  his  escape  from  death  in  a  riot  to  his  ambiguous  first 
name.     The  familiar  Grfins  must  have  been  a  ndawii  m  very 
ancient  times.     Like  irregularities  occur  in  the  use  of  the 
vomoK     Two  in   a  name  were  not   anconunon,  one   being 
derived  from  the  family  of  the  mother  perhaps;  occasionally 
three  or  four  are  used,  and  fourteen  are  found  in  the  name 
of  one  of  the  consuls  of  the  year   KiO  a.d.      Then  by  a 
change,  the  converse  of  that  mentioned  above,  a  word  might 
go  out  of  use  as  a  j)ra('ndmni  and  become  a  tidmrn:  Cicero's 
enemy  Lilrim  Serglus  Cafilhia  had  for  his  gentile  name 
Serfjius,  which   had  once  been   a   first   name    (§41).     The 
mindinen   was   similarly  abused.     It  ceased   to   denote   the 
family  and  came  to  distinguish  members  of  the  same  family, 


\ 


as  the  prarnofnijiff  originally  had  done:  thus  the  three  sons 
of  Marcus  Annaeus  Seneca,  for  example,  were  called 
Mdrrus  An}Kivus  yardtus^  Lucius  A)ni((vus  Senec((^  and 
Lucius  Annaeus  Mela.  So,  too,  a  word  used  as  a  cofjnomeu 
in  one  name  might  be  used  as  a  fourth  element  in  another: 
for  example  in  ihc  names  Lucius  Cornelius  Sulla  and  Lucius 
('(n-nelius  Leutulns  Snra  the  third  and  fourth  elements 
respectively  are  really  the  same,  being  merely  shortened 
forms  of  Sto'uhf.  Finally  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 
same  name  might  be  arranged  differently  at  ditferent  times: 
in  the  consular  lists  we  find  the  same  man  called  Lucius 
Luox'fius  TriripiHuus  Lldcus  and  Lucius  Laccefius  FJdcus 
Tricijiifhuis. 

There  is  even  greater  variation  in  the  names  of  persons  56 

^vho  had  passc^l  from  one  family  into  another  by  adoption. 

Some  took  the  additional  name  (i$52)  from  the  slirps  instead 

of  from  the  aeus,  that  is,  from  the  cof/nouioi  instead  of  from 

the  nomen.    A  son  of  Marcus  Claudius  Marcellus  was  adopted 

bv  a  certain  Publius  Cornelius  Lentulus^and  ought  to  have 

been    called   Puldius    Cornelius   Lenlulus    Claudidnus;   he 

took  instead   the   name    Puhlius   Cornelius  Lenfnlus  Mar- 

celUnns,   and   this   name  descended  to   his  children.     The 

confu^ion  in  this  direction  is  well  illustrated  by  the  name  of 

the  famous   Marcus  Junius   Brutus.     A   few   years   before 

(^aesar  fell  by  his  hand,  Brutus,  as  we  usually  call  him,  was 

adopted  by  his  mother's  brother,  Quintus  Servilius  Caepio, 

and   ought   to   have  been   called    Quintus   Serclllus    Carj^id 

lunidmis.     For  some  reason  unknown  to  us  he  retained  his 

own    c(f(jndnien,    and    even    his    close    friend    dcero    seems 

scarcely  to  know  what  to  call  him.     Sometimes  he  writes  of 

him    as     Quintus    Caepio    Brutus,    sometimes    as    Mdrcus 

Brfitns,  sometimes  simply  as  Brutus.     The  great  scholar  of 

the    first    century,    Asconius,    calls    him    Mdrcus     Caepio. 

Finally  it  may  be  noticed  that  late  in  ilie  Fmpire  we  find  a 

man  struggling  under  the  load  of  forty  names. 


46 


tup:  privatk  life  of  the  ko.maxs 


THE    NAME 


47 


57  Names  of  Women. — No  very  >i;it  is  factory  ucconiit  of  the 
]icUnos  of  wonieii  can  be  givoji,  because  it  is  impossible  to 
discover  any  system  in  the  choice  and  arrangement  of  those 
that  have  come  down  to  us.  It  may  be  said  in  general  that 
the  threefold  name  was  unknown  in  the  best  days  of  tlie 
Republic,  and  that  praend/Hlna  were  rare  and  when  used 
w^ere  not  abbreviated.  AVe  find  ^\w\\  pntrtHjitniKt  as  PidiUa 
and  Vihia  (the  masculine  forms  of  which  early  disappeared), 
(Idia^  Lfiria^  and  rfiMi((^  and  it  is  probable  that  the  daugli- 
ter  took  these  from  her  father.  More  common  were  the 
adjectives  Jfdj'Kf/Hf  and  Mimn^  and  the  numerals  Srcunda 
and  Terti((^  but  these  unlike  the  corresponding  iiames  of 
men  seem  always  to  have  denoted  the  place  of  the  l)earer 
among  a  group  of  sisters.  It  was  more  usual  for  the  unmar- 
ried woman  to  be  called  by  her  father's  ndmrn  in  its 
femim'ne  forni,  TuVia^  ('onivlin^  with  the  addition  of  lier 
father's  coijiwtnvn  in  the  genitive  case,  CueciVui  Mch'Ul,  fol- 
lowed later  by  the  letter  /  {=f'ilia)  to  mark  the  relationship. 
Sometimes  she  used  her  mother's  ndmcn  after  her  father's. 
The  married  woman,  if  she  passed  into  her  husband's  hand 
{manus^  goS)  by  the  ancient  j^^trician  ceremony,  originally 
took  his  nbmvn,  just  as  an  adopted  son  took  the  name  of  the 
family  into  which  he  passed,  but  it  can  not  be  shown  that 
the  rule  was  universally  or  even  usually  observed.  Under 
the  later  forms  of  marriage  she  retained  her  maiden  name. 
In  the  time  of  the  Empire  we  find  the  threefold  name  for 
women  in  general  use,  with  the  same  riotous  confusion  in 
selection  and  arrangement  as  prevailed  in  the  case  of  the 
names  of  men  at  the  same  time. 

58  Names  of  Slaves. — Slaves  had  no  more  right  to  names  of 
their  own  than  they  had  to  other  property,  but  took  such  as 
their  masters  were  pleased  to  give  them,  and  even  these  did 
not  descend  to  their  children.  In  the  simpler  life  of  early 
times  the  slave  was  called  ]mei\  just  as  the  word  "boy" 
was  once  used  in  this  country  for  slaves  of  any  age.     Until 


/ 


\i 


late  in  the  Republic  the  slave  was  known  only  by  this  name 
corrupted  io  pur  and  affixed  to  the  genitive  of  his  master's 
first  name:  Mdrcipur  {=  Mdrcl piier),  ''Marcus's  slave." 
\\  hen  slaves  became  numerous  this  simple  form  no  longer 
sufficed  to  distinguish  them,  and  they  received  individual 
names.  These  were  usually  foreign  names,  often  denoting 
the  nationality  of  the  slave,  sometimes,  in  mockery  perhaps, 
the  high-sounding  appellations  of  eastern  potentates,  sucli 
names  as  Afer,  Eleutheros,  Pharnaces.  By  this  time,  too, 
the  word  servus  had  supplanted  j)i/er.  We  find,  therefore, 
that  toward  the  end  of  the  llepublic  the  full  name  of  a 
slave  consisted  of  his  individual  name  followed  by  the  )idmc}i 
and  praenomoi  (the  order  is  important)  of  his  master  and 
the  word  servus:  Fharndces  Eijadtri  PdljJil  servus,  AVhen 
a  slave  passed  from  one  master  to  another  he  took  the  notuoi 
of  the  new  master  and  added  to  it  the  cognomen  of  the  old 
with  the  suffix  -dnus:  when  Anna  the  slave  of  Maecenas 
became  the  property  of  Livia,  she  was  called  Anna  Llviae 
serva  Maeccndtidna, 

Names  of  Freedmen. — The  freedman  regularly  kept  the 
individual  name  which  he  had  had  as  a  slave,  and  was  given 
the  nomen  of  his  master  Avitli  any  praenomen  the  latter 
assigned  him.  Thus,  Andronicus,  the  slave 
of  Marcus  Livius  Salinator,  became  when 
freed  Lucius  Livius  Andronicus^  the  indi- 
vidual name  coming  last  as  a  sort  of  coijnb- 
wen.  It  Inqipened  naturally  that  the  master's 
])raendnieti  Avas  often  given,  especially  to  a 
favorite  slave.  The  freedman  of  a  woman 
took  the  name  of  her  father,  e.g.,  Mdrcus 
LjIvius  Aur/usfae  1  L^marus;  the  letter  /  stands  for  Viherfus^ 
and  was  inserted  in  all  formal  documents.  Of  course  the 
master  might  disregard  the  regular  form  and  give  the  freed- 
man any  name  he  pleased.  Tims,  when  Cicero  manumitted 
his  slaves  Tiro  and  Dionvsius  he  called   the  former  in  strict 


FlOTRK  9. 

Trajan 


59 


>/ 


48 


THE    I^IIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    KOMAXS 


accord  witli  cii^ifom  Mdrnfs  TifUiKs  T'lvu,  l)ut  io  tlic  Ijittor 
ho  gave  liis  uwii  prav^ibnieii  uiul  the  nomoi  oi'  his  friend 
Titus  Poiuponius  Atticus,  the  new  name  being  Murcus 
l*uufj)o/iii(,s  J)i(niTisuis.  The  individual  names  (Pharnaces, 
Pionysius,  etc.)  were  dropped  l)y  tht^  descendants  of  frtHMl- 
men,  who  were  anxious  with  good  reason  to  hide  all  traces 
of  their  mean  descent. 
60  Naturalized  Citizens. — A\'hen  a  foreigner  was  given  the 
right  of  citizenship,  he  took  a  new  name,  which  was 
arranged  on  mncli  tlie  same  principles  as  have  been 
explained  in  the  cases  of  freedmen.  His  original  name  was 
retained  as  a  sort  of  voijuhmea^  and  before  it  were  written 
the  pravnbiiwn  that  suited  his  fancv  and  the  ^lunivn  of  the 
person,  always  a  lioman  citizen,  to  whom  lie  owed  his  citi- 
zenship. The  mo^t  familiar  example  is  that  of  the  (J reek 
poet  Archias,  whom  C'icero  defended  under  the  name  oi* 
Adlus  LiciiiiHs  ArcJn'ds  in  the  Avell-known  oration.  He  had 
long  been  attached  to  the  family  of  the  Lnculli  and  when 
he  was  made  a  citizen  took  as  his  ndincN  that  of  his  dis- 
tinguished i)atron  Lucius  Licinius  Lucullus;  we  do  not 
know  why  he  selected  the  first  name  Aulus.  Another 
example  is  that  of  the  (laul  mentioned  by  Caesar  (B.  0.,  I, 
47),  Gdlus  V((lf'rius  Cffhilrifs,  He  took  liis  name  from 
Caius  Valerius  Fhiccus,  the  governor  of  Gaul  at  the  time 
that  ho  was  given  his  citizenship.  Tt  is  to  this  custom  of 
taking  the  names  of  governors  and  generals  that  is  due  the 
frequent  occurrence  of  the  name  Julius  in  Gaul,  Pompeius 
in  Spain,  and  Cornelius  in  Sicily. 


i 


CHAPTER  III 

MARRIAGE  AND  THE  POSITION  OF  WOMEN 

References:  Maniuiirdt,  28-80;  Voi^^t,  318,449;  Goll,  IT,  5  f . ;  Friedliinder, 
I,  451  f.;  Ramsay,  298  f.,  477;  ]*ivston,  i^f. ;  ^mith, //idfrrmdnhun;  liauiiioisttr, 
696  f.;  Harpew  e(~m>fhhun,/jf((tri/*idnhnn;  Liibker,  361;  Pauly-Wissowa,  c<9e///yy^/<7, 
cdtifd rrf-at  id,  cdn  dh i ntn . 

Early  Forms  of  Marriage. — Polygamy  was  never  practieed  61 
at  Home,  and  we  are  told  that  for  five  centuries  after  the 
fonnding  of  the  city  divorce  was  entirely  nnknown.  Up  to 
the  time  of  the  Servian  constitntion  (date  uncertain)  tlio 
patricians  were  the  only  citizens  and  intermarried  only  Avitli 
patricians  and  with  members  of  surrounding  communities 
having  like  social  standing.  The  only  form  of  marriage 
known  to  them  Avas  the  stately  religions  ceremonial  called, 
as  Avill  be  explained  hereafter,  cdnfarrt'dtib.  With  the 
direct  consent  of  the  gods,  Avith  the  jton/ifices  celebrating 
the  solemn  rites,  in  the  presence  of  the  accredited  repre- 
sentatives of  liis  (jen,s,  the  patrician  took  his  wife  from  her 
father's  family  into  his  own  (§^-38),  to  be  a  inilier  familUls^  to 
rear  him  children  who  should  conserve  the  family  mysteries, 
perpetuate  his  ancient  race,  and  extend  the  power  of  Pome. 
]^y  this,  the  one  legal  marriage  of  the  time,  tlu^  wife  ])assed 
hi  ni(f)nftff  rlrl^  and  the  husband  acquired  over  her  prac- 
ticallv  the  same  rii^hts  as  he  had  over  his  own  children 
(g§:5r),  :>(;)  and  other  dependent  meml)ers  of  his  family. 
Such  a  marria2:e  was  said  to  be  ctiin  ('<nireHtib)io  icrbris  in 
iiKovn)}  rirl  (§'>5). 

During  this  period,   too,   the  free  non-citizens   (§§1TT,62 
1T8),  the  plebeians,  had  been  busy  in  marrying  and  giving 
in  marriage.      There  is  little  doubt  that  their  unions  had 
been  as  sacred  in  their  eyes,  their  family  ties  as  strictly 

49 


60 


THE    I'RIVATE    IJFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


MARRIAGE    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN 


51 


regarded  and  as  pure,  as  those  of  the  patricians,  hut  these 
unions  were  unhallowed  hy  the  national  gods  and  unrec- 
ognized hy  the  civil  hiw,  simply  because  the  plebeians 
were  not  vet  citizens.  Their  form  of  niarriao^e  was  called 
U'snsj  and  consisted  essentially  in  the  living  together  of 
the  man  and  woman  as  husband  and  wife  for  a  year, 
though  there  were,  of  course,  conventional  forms  and  observ- 
ances, about  which  we  know  absolutely  nothing.  The  ple- 
beian husband  might  acquire  the  same  rights  over  the 
person  and  property  of  his  wife  as  the  patrician,  but  the 
form  of  marriage  did  not  in  itself  involve  munus.  The  wife 
might  remain  a  member  of  her  father's  family  and  retain 
such  property  as  he  allowed  her  (§')'3)  by  merely  absenting 
herself  from  her  husband  for  the  space  of  a  frinorfiuni  each 
year.  If  she  did  this  the  marriage  was  sine  ciniroitlone  In 
manum^  and  the  husband  had  no  control  over  her  property; 
if  she  did  not,  the  marriage  like  that  of  the  patricians  was 
cum  conrentidne  in  nuuinni, 
63  At  least  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  fServius  goes  another 
Jioman    form    of   marriage,    also   plebeian,   though    not   so 

a^icient   as    usns.      It    was    called 
ojcmptib  and  Avas  a  fictitious   sale, 
by  which  iho  jjalej'  fain  Hi  as  of  the 
woman,  or  her  guardian  (ffifar)   if 
she  was  sni    Inris^  transferred  her 
to  the  nnm  indf  rinionil  ffUfsd.    This 
form   must  have  been  a  survival  of 
the  old  custom  of  purchase  and  sale 
of  wives,  but  we  do  not  know  when 
it  was  introduced  among  the    lio- 
mans.      It  carried  manus   with    it 
as  a  matter  of  (bourse  and    seems  to    have   been    reirarded 
socially  as  better  form   than    dsiis.      The    two  existed  for 
centuries  side  by  side,  but  coetnpfid  survived  usus  as  a  form 
of  marriage  cuni  conventibne  in  nianufn. 


Fku^k  10.     IIadkian 


\ 


lus  Conubii. — While  the  Servian  constitution  made  the  64 
plebeians  citizens  and  thereby  legalized  their  forms  of  mar- 
riage, it  did  not  give  them  the  right  of  internnirriage  with 
the  patricians.  Many  of  the  plebeian  families  were  hardly 
less  ancient  than  the  patricians,  many  were  rich  and  power- 
ful, hut  it  Avas  not  until  44o_p>.c.  that  marriai^es  between  w 
the  two  orders  Avere  formally  sanctioned  bv  the  civil  law. 
The  objection  on  the  part  of  the  patricians  was  largely  a 
religious  one:  The  gods  of  the  state  were  patrician  gods, 
the  auspices  could  be  taken  hy  patricians  oidy,  the  marriages 
of  patricians  only  were  sanctioned  by  heaven.  Their  ora- 
tors ])rotested  that  the  unions  of  the  plel)eians  were  no 
better  than  promiscuous  intercourse,  they  were  not  idsfae 
)ulpfiae  {^^u) ;  the  ple])eian  Avife  Avas  taken  in  nnltr'nnnniin}), 
she  was  at  best  an  iixar^  not  a  nidfcr  /(finiJids:  her  oifspring 
AV^ere  ''mother's  children/'  woi  /nif ricil. 

Much  of  this  Avas  class  exaggeration,  but  it  is  true  that  65 
at  this  early  date  the  (je}ts  Avas  not  so  highly  A'alued  by  the 
plebeians  as  hy  the  patricians,  and  that  the  plebeians 
assigned  to  cognates  certain  duties  and  jn'ivileges  that 
deA'oh'ed  upon  the  patrician  //r/zZ/AJ^-.  With  the  ids  cnHilhil 
many  of  these  ])oints  of  ditference  disap[)eared.  New  condi- 
tions were  fixed  tor^  in,^t((e  /nl/f/iaf;  ((femptio  by  a  sort  of 
com])romise  became  the  usual  form  of  marriage  Avhen  one  of 
the  parties  AA^as  a  plel)eian;  and  the  stigma  disappeared 
from  the  word  indfrundjiintn.  On  the  other  hand  patrician 
women  learned  to  understand  the  advantages  of  a  marriage 
sine  ('(nirenfidnc  and  marriaiife  with  innniis  irraduallv  became 
less  frequent,  the  taking  of  the  auspices  before  the  (cere- 
mony came  to  he  considered  a  mere  form,  and  marriage 
began  to  lose  its  sacramental  character,  and  with  these 
changes  came  later  the  laxness  in  the  iiiarital  relation  and 
the  freedom  of  divorce  that  seemed  in  the  time  of  Augustus 
to  threaten  the  A^ery  life  of  the  commonwealth. 

It  is  probable  that  by  the  time  of  Cicero  marriage  Avith  66 


52 


THE    TRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


manus  was  uncommon,  and  consequently  tliat  rdnf(f7Tedtio 
and  ('(fcniptid  had  gone  out  of  general  use.  To  a  limited 
extent,  however,  the  former  was  retained  until  Christian 
times,  because  certain  i)riestly  offices  {jJdininex  maiores  and 
re(je><  sacra  rum)  could  be  tilled  only  by  persons  whose 
parents  had  been  married  by  the  confarreate  ceremony, 
the  one  sacramenlal  form,  and  who  had  themselves  been 
nuirried  by  the  same  form.  But  so  great  became  the 
reluctance  of  women  to  submit  to  mamis^  that  in  order 
to  till  even  these  few  priestly  offices  it  was  found  necessary 
under   Tiberius  to  eliminate    rntoius  from    the   confarreate 

ceremonv. 

67  Nuptiae  lustae.— There  were  certain  conditions  that  had 
to  be  satisfied  before  a  legal  marriage  could  be  contracted 
even  by  citizens.     It  was  required: 

1.  That  the  consent  of  both  parties  should  be  given,  or 
of  the  pater  famiUds  if  one  or  both  were  in  imteddle. 
Under  Augustus  it  was  provided  that  the  pater  famiVidx 
should  not  withhold  his  consent  unless  he  could  show  valid 
reasons  for  doing  so. 

2.  That  both  parties  should  be  pfiheres;  there  could  be 
no  marriage  between  children.  Although  no  precise  age 
was  fixed  by  law,  it  is  probable  that  fourteen  and  twelve 
were  the  lowest  limit  for  the  man  and  woman  respectively. 

3.  That  both  num  and  woman  should  be  unmarried. 
Polygamy  was  never  practiced  at  Rome. 

68  4.  That  the  parlies  should  not  be  nearly  related.  The 
restrictions  in  this  direction  were  fixed  rather  by  public 
opinion  than  by  law  and  varied  greatly  at  different  times, 
becoming  gradually  less  severe.  In  general  it  may  be  said 
that  marriage  was  absolutely  forbidden  between  ascendants 
and  descendants,  between  other  cognates  within  the  fourth 
degree  (§2o),  and  the  nearer  adflne.^  (§"^^'>).  If  the  parties 
could  satisfy  these  conditions  they  might  be  legally  nuirried, 
but  distinctions  were  still  made  that  affected  the  civil  status 


MARRIAGE    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN 


53 


of   the  children,   although   no   doubt  was  cast  upon  their     • 
legitimacy  or  upon  the  moral  character  of  their  parents. 

If  the  husband  and  wife  were  both  Roman  citizens,  their  69 
marriage  was  called  idstae  niqjtiac^  which  we  may  translate 
*' regular  marriage,"   their  children  were  imtl    I'lheri  and 
were   by  birth   elves   opfww   iilre^   "possessed  of   all  civil 


rights. 


55 


If  but  one  of  the  parties  was  a  Roman  citizen  and  the 
otlier  a  member  of  a  community  having  the  ins  conuhii  but 
not  the  full  clvitds^  the  marriage  was  still  called  iustae 
nuptiae^  but  the  children  took  the  civil  standing  of  the 
father.  This  means  that  if  the  father  was  a  citizen  and  the 
mother  a  foreigner,  the  children  were  citizens;  but  if  the 
father  was  a  foreigner  and  the  mother  a  citizen,  the  chil- 
dren were  foreigners  {peregrim)  with  the  father. 

l^ut  if  either  of  the  parties  was  without  the  ius  comtltil^ 
the  marriage,  though  still  legal,  was  called  nnpticie  hivMae 
or  mdtrimdniiim  inifLstam^  "lui  irregular  marriage,"  and 
the  children,  though  legitimate,  took  the  civil  position  of 
the  parent  of  lower  degree.  We  seem  to  have  something 
analogous  to  this  in  the  loss  of  social  standing  which 
usually  follows  the  marriage  of  a  person  with  one  of  dis- 
tinctly inferior  position. 

Betrothals. — lietrothal  {spo^isdlia)  as  a  preliminary  to  70 
marriage  was  considered  good  form  but  was  not  legally 
necessary  and  carried  with  it  no  obligations  that  could  be 
enforced  by  law.  In  the  spdnsdUa  the  maiden  was  promised 
to  the  man  as  his  bride  with  "words  of  style,"  that  is,  in  sol- 
emn form.  The  promise  was  made,  not  by  the  maiden  her- 
self, but  by  her  pater  famUids,  or  by  her  tutor  if  she  was  not 
in  potestdte.  In  the  same  way,  the  promise  was  made  to  the 
man  directly  only  in  case  he  was  stn  iuris^  otherwise  to 
the  Head  of  his  House,  who  had  asked  for  him  the  maiden 
in  marriage.  The  "words  of  style"  were  probably  some-  - 
thing  like  this: 


54 


THE    J'RIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


''SpomUsHc  Giliam,  iuamflUam  (or  if  she  was  a  waid: 
Gdiam,  Lurii  flJiam),  mihi  (or  fllio  meo)  nxorein  dariV 
''D'l  htnie  voi'tant!  iSjJonded.'"' 
"1)1  bene  rnrfanf!''^ 

71  At  any  rate  the  word  spandcd  was  technically  used  of  the 
promise,  and  the  maiden  was  henceforth  ^ponsa.  The  per- 
son who  made  the  promit^e  had  always  the  right  to  cancel  it. 
This  was  usually  done  through  an  intermediary  {)iu)itius), 
and  hence  the  formal  expression  for  breaking  iin  engugement 
was  repudivi)}  renunfldr*'^  or  simply  rc)ianfidre,  A\  hile  the 
contract  was  entirely  one-sided,  it  should  be  noticed  that  a 
man  was  liable  to  infdmia  if  he  formed  two  engagements  at 
the  same  time,  and  that  he  could  not  recover  any  presents 
made  with  a  view  to  a  future  marriage  if  he  himself  broke 
the  engagement.  8ueh  presents  were  almost  always  made, 
and  while  we  tind  that  articles  for  pt^'sonal  use,  the  toilet, 
etc.,  were  common,  a  ring  was  usually  given.  'J'he  riiig  wjjs 
worn  on  the  third  fiiiger  of  the  left  hand,  bce^ause  it  was 
believed  that  a  nerve  ran  directly  from  this  finger  to  the 
heart.  It  was  also  usual  for  the  spd}isa  to  make  a  present 
to  her  betrothed. 

72  The  Dowry. — It  was  a  point  of  honor  with  the  liomans, 
as  it  is  now  with  some  Phiropean  nations,  for  the  bride  to 
bring  to  her  husband  a  dowry  {dos).  In  the  case  of  a  girl  in 
pidvstdte  this  would  naturally  be  furnished  by  the  Head  of 
her  House;  in  the  case  of  one  sin  iurix  it  was  furnished 
from  her  own  property,  or  if  she  had  none  was  contributed 
by  her  relatives.  It  seems  that  if  they  wei-e  reluctant  she 
might  by  process  of  hiw  compel  her  ascendants  at  least  to 
furnish  it.  In  early  times,  when  marriage  rinn  rtf/irr/^fid/fr 
prevailed,  all  the  property  brought  l)^-¥fie  bride  became  the 
property  of  her  husband,  or  of  his  piHer  fffwiUds  (§35),  but 
in  later  times,  when  iminus  was  less  common,  a?id  especially 
after  divorce  had  become  of  frefpient  occurrence,  a  distinc- 
tion   was    made.      A    part    of    the    bride's    possessions     was 


MARRIAGE    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN 


55 


reserved  for  her  own  excdusive  use,  and  a  part  was  made 
over  to  the  groom  under  the  technical  name  of  dos.  The 
relative  proportions  varied,  of  course,  with  circumstances. 

Essential  Forms.— There  were  really  no  legal  forms  73 
necessary  for  the  solemnization  of  a  marriage;  there  was  no 
license  to  be  procured  from  the  civil  authorities,  the  cere- 
monies sini})le  or  elaborate  did  not  have  to  be  performed  by 
persons  authorized  l)y  the  state.  The  one  thing  necessary 
was  the  consent  of  both  parties,  if  they  were  sul  iftris,  or  of 
\he\v  /ffffres  ffffnilfds,  if  they  were  ///  pfdcsfd/c.  It  has  been 
already  remarked  (gOT,  1)  that  the  /H//rr  /(nnilius  could 
refuse  his  consent  for  valid  reasons  only;  on  the  other  hand, 
he  could  commaiul  the  consent  of  persons  subject  to  him. 
It  is  probable  that  ])arental  and  filial  affection  {picfas)  made 
this    hardship    less    rigorous    than    it    now    seems    to    us 

But  while  this  consent  wa?  the  onlv  condition  for  a  leo:al74 
marriage,  it  had  to  be  shown  by  some  act  of  ])ersonal  union 
between  the  parties;  that  is,  the 
marriage  could  not  be  entered  int':^ 
by  letter  or  by  the  intervention  of 
a  third  ])arty.  Such  an  overt  act 
was  the  joining  of  hands  {dcjirdviim 
innrfio)  in  the  presence  of  wit- 
nesses, or  the  escorting  of  the  bride 
to  her  husband's  house,  never 
omitted  when  the  parties  had  any      ^         ..     , 

■'■  ♦^         FiGUKK  n.     Antoninus  Pius 

social  standing,    or   in   later    times 

the  signing  of  the  marriage  contract.  It  was  never  neces- 
sary to  a  valid  marriage  that  the  parties  should  live  together 
as  man  and  wife,  though,  as  we  have  seen  (§<*)*^),  this  living 
together  of  itself  constituted  a  legal  marriage. 

The  Wedding  Day. — It  will  be  noticed  that  superstition  75 
played  an  important  part  in  the  arrangements  for  a  wedding 
two  thousand  years  ago,  as  it  does  now.     Especial  pains  had 


56 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


MARRIAGE    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WO^FEN 


57 


to  be  taken  to  secure  a  lucky  day.  The  Kalends,  Nones, 
and  Ides  of  each  month,  and  the  day  following  each  of 
them,  were  unlucky.  80  was  all  of  May  and  the  first  half 
of  June,  on  account  of  certain  religious  ceremonies  observed 
in  these  months,  the  Argean  offerings  and  the  Ijemhvia  in 
May  and  the  diex  reU(jid.u  connected  with  Testa  in  June. 
Besides  these  the  dies  jKireafdJes^  February  lo-'^l,  and  the 
days  when  the  entrance  to  the  lower  world  was  supposed  to 
be  open,  August  :24,  October  5,  and  Xovember  8,  were  care- 
fully avoided.  One-third  of  the  year,  therefore,  was  abso- 
lutely bg^rred.  The  great  holidays,  too,  and  these  were 
legion,  were  avoided,  not  because  they  were  unlucky,  but 
because  on  these  days  friends  and  relatives  were  sure  to  have 
other  engagements.  Women  marrying  for  the  second  time 
chose  these  very  liolidays  to  make  their  weddings  less 
conspicuous. 

76  The  Wedding  Garments. — On  the  eve  of  her  wedding  day 
the  bride  dedicated  to  the  Lares  of  her  father's  house  her 
luUa  (§'^0)  and  the  toffu  pravtvxtn^  which  married  women 
did  not  wear,  and  also  if  she  was  not  much  over  twelve  years 
of  age  her  childish  playthings.  For  the  sake  of  the  omen 
she  put  on  before  going  to  sleep  the  tunica  reda^  or  regilla, 
woven  in  one  piece  and  falling  to  the  feet.  A  very  doubtful 
picture  is  shown  iji  liich  under  the  word  recta.  It  seems 
to  ha\'c  derived  its  name  from  having  been  woven  in  the 
old-fashioned  way  at  an  u])right  loom.  This  same  tunic  was 
worn  at  the  wedding. 

77  On  the  morning  of  the  wedding  day  the  bride  was 
dressed  for  the  ceremony  by  her  mother,  and  Eoman  poets 
show  unusual  tenderness  as  thev  describe  her  solicitude. 
There  is  a  wall  painting  of  such  a  scene,  found  at  Pompeii 
and  reproduced  in  Fig.  12.  The  chief  article  of  dress  was 
the  tunica  rer/illa  already  mentioned,  which  was  fastened 
around  the  waist  with  a  band  of  wool  tied  in  the  knot  of 
Hercules  [nodas  ITercuIfuictis)^  probably  because  Hercules 


FlGUKii  12.      JJKKSSINQ  THE  IJKIDI: 

was  the  guardian  of  wedded  life.     This  knot  the  liushand       ^ 

oidy  Avas  privileged   to    untie.      Over  the  tunic 

was  worn  uhe  bridal  veil,   the  flame-colored  veil 

{famnieiim);  shown  in  Fig.  lo.     So  important 

was  the  veil  of  the  bride  that  nfibcrc,  'Ho  veil 

one's  self,"  is  the  regular    word    for  "marry" 

when  used  of  a  woman. 

Especial  attention  was  given  to  the  arrange-       IZ i  M^    78 
ment  of  the  hair,  but  unfortunately  we  have  no 
picture  preserved  to  us  to  make  its  arrangement       nouBJi:  13. 
clear.     We  only  know  that  it  was  divided  into      '^".'Iku'm  *'" 


58 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


six  locks  by  the  point  of  ii  spear,  ])roljtibly  u  rem- 
•  /  iniscence  of  tlie  ancient  marriage  by  captnre,  and  tliat 
these  locks  perhaps  braided  were  kept  in  position  by  ribbons 
(n'/far).  The  l)ride  had  also  a  wreath  of  flowers  and  sacred 
plants  gathered  by  herself.  The  groom  wore  of  conrse  the 
toga  and  had  a  similar  Avreath  of  flowers  on  his  head,  lie 
/Avas  accompanied  to  the  home  of  the  bride  at  the  proper 
time  by  relatives,  friends,  and  clients,  who  were  bound  to  do 
him  every  honor  on  his  weddino;  dav. 

79  Th8  Ceremony. — The  house  of  the  bride's  father,  where 
the  ceremony  was  performed,  was  decked  with  fl.ovvers, 
boughs  of  trees,  bands  of  wool,  and  tapestries.  Tlie  guests 
arrived  before  the  hour  of  sunrise,  and  even  then  the  omens 
had  been  already  taken.     In  the  ancient  confarreate  cere- 

\/  mony  these  were  taken  by  the  public  augur,  but  in  later 
times,  no  matter  what  the  ceremony,  the  haruspices  merely 
consulted  the  entrails  of  a  sheep  which  had  been  killed  in 
sacrifice.  When  the  marriage  ceremonies  are  described  it 
must  be  remembered  that  onlv  the  consent  was  necessary 
(§7'^)  with  the  act  expressing  the  consent,  and  that  all  other 
forms  and  ceremonies  were  unessential  and  variable.  Some- 
thing depeniled  u[)on  the  particular  form  used,  but  more 
upon  the  wealth  and  social  position  of  the  families  inter- 
ested. It  is  probable  that  most  weddings  were  a  good  deal 
simpler  than  those  described  by  our  chief  authorities. 

80  After  the  omens  had  been  pronounced  favorable  the 
bride  and  groom  appeared  in  the  atrium,  the  chief  room, 
and  the  wedding  began.     This  ccnsi-ted  of  two  parts: 

1.  The  ceremony  jiroper,  varying  according  to  the  form 
used  {cd}ifarre(ifid^  rdeDiplio^  or  fisus)^  the  essential  purt  being 
the  consent  before  witnesses. 

2.  The  festivities,  including  the  feast  at  the  bride's 
home,  the  taking  of  the  bride  with  a  show  of  force  from  her 
mother's  arms,  the  escort  to  her  new  home  (the  essential 
part),  and  her  reception  there. 


H%» 


b9 


60 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


MARRIAGE    AXD    THR    PO^^ITION    OP    WOMEN" 


61 


V 


81  The  confarreate  ceremony  began  with  the  dextrdrum 
iunctid.  The  bride  and  groom  were  brought  together  by 
the  promiha^  a  matron  married  to  her  first  husband,  and 
joined  hands  in  the  presence  of  ten  witnesses  representing 
the  ten  gente><  of  the  curia.  These  are  shovvn  on  an  ancient 
sarcophagus  found  at  Naples  (Fig.  14).  Then  followed  the 
words  of  consent  spoken  by  the  bride:  Quandb  tu  Gdiiis,  vinp 
Gdui.  The  formula  was  unchanged, "no  matter  what  the 
names  of  the  bride  and  groom,  and  goes  back  to  a  time  when 
Gdiuswas  a  nomen,  not  a  praeuomen  (§55).  It  implied  that 
the  bride  was  actually  entering  the  gens  of  the  groom  (§§23, 
28,  35),  and  was  probably  chosen  for  its  lucky  meaning  (§44). 
Even  in  marriages  ,sine  conventidne  the  old  formula  came  to 
be  used,  its  import  having  been  lost  in  lapse  of  time.  The 
bride  and  groom  then  took  their  places  side  by  side  at  the 
left  of  the  altar  and  facing  it,  sitting  on  stools  covered  with 
the  pelt  of  the  sheep  slain  for  the  sacrifice. 

82  A  bloodless  offering  was  then  made  to  Jupiter  by  the 
Pontifex  Ma:rimi(>^   and  the  Fhlmen  DidJi.^^  consisting  of 

the  cake  of  spelt  {farreum  Ubum)  from  which 
the  cdnfarrvdfio  got  its  name.     With  the  offer- 
ing   to   Jupiter   a   prayer   was    recited    by  the 
Flamen   to   Juno   as  the  goddess  of  marriage, 
and  to  Tellus,  Picumnus,  and  Pilumnus,  deities 
of  the  country  and  its  fruits.     The  utensils  nec- 
essary for  the  offering  were  carried  in  a  covered 
basket    {cumerus)    by    a    boy    called    camiUHx 
(Fig.   15),  whose  parents  must  have  both  been 
living    at    the    time    {pafrlnuis    et    indtrlnuis). 
Then  followed  the  congratulations,   the    guests 
using  the  word  fellrifer. 
fi3        The  coemptio  began   with  the  fictitious  sale,  carried  out 
in  the  presence  of  no  less  than  five  witnesses.     The  purchase 
money  represented  by  a  single  coin  was  laid  in  the  scales 
held    by   a    Ubripens.     The    scales,  scaleholder,  coin,    and 


Figure  15. 
a  cam1l.l.us 


witnesses  were  all  necessary  for  this  kind  of  marriage. 
Then  followed  the  dvxtrdnim  iunctid  and  the  words  of  con- 
sent, borrowed,  as  has  been  said,  from  the  confarreate  cere- 
mony. Originally  the  groom  had  asked  the  bride:  An  sihi 
vidfer  familid,^  e><se  velleto  She  assented,  and  put  to  him  a 
similar  question:  A)i  sihi  pater  famitids  esse  vellet.  To 
this  he  too  gave  the  answer  "Yes."  A  prayer  was  then 
recited  and  sometimes  perhaps  a  sacrifice  offered,  after 
which  came  the  congratulations  as  in  the  other  and  more 

elaborate  ceremonv. 

The  third  form,  that  is,  the  ceremonies  preliminary  to  84 
dsus^  probably  admitted  of  more  variation  than  either  of  the 
others,  but  no  description  has  come  down  to  us.  We  may  be 
sure  that  the  hands  Avere  clasped,  the  words  of  consent 
spoken,  and  congratulations  offered,  l)at  we  know  of  no 
special  customs  or  usages.  It  was  almost  necessary  for  the 
three  forms  to  get  more  or  less  alike  in  the  course  of  time, 
though  the  cake  of  spelt  could  not  be  borroAved  from  the 
confarreate  ceremony  by  either  of  the  others,  or  the  scales 
and  their  holder  from  the  ceremony  of  citviuptih. 

The  Wedding  Feast. — After  the  conclusion  of  the  cere- 85 
mony  came  the  w^edding  feast  {('ena  inljdidjis)  lasting  until 
evenino:.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  was  regularly 
given  at  the  house  of  the  bride's  father  and  that  the  few 
cases  when  we  know  that  it  was  given  at  the  groom's  house 
were  exceptional  and  due  to  special  circumstances  Avhicli 
might  cause  a  similar  chansre  to-dav.  The  feast  seems  to 
have  concluded  with  the  distribution  among  the  guests  of 
pieces  of  the  wedding  cake  {mustdcevm)^  which  was  made  of 
meal  steeped  in  must  (g20(])  and  served  on  bay  leaves. 
There  came  to  be  so  much  extravas^ance  at  these  feasts  and 
at  the  repot ia  mentioned  below  {%>^^^)  that  under  Augustus  it 
was  proposed  to  limit  their  cost  by  hiw  to  one  thousand 
sesterces  (^50),  a  piece  of  sumptuary  legislation  as  vain  as 
such  restrictions  have  usually  proved  to  be. 


u- 


vV.«i^ 


02 


thp:   prtvatk   lifp:  of  thk   Romans 


MAKHIAOE    AND    THE    POSITION    OF    WOMEN 


63 


J 


86  The  Bridal  Procession. — After  the  wedding  i'eust  tlie 
])ride  was  lui-iiially  tnkeii  to  her  hus])jiii(rs  liouse.  This 
cereinony  wiis  euUed  deduct lo^  and  as  it  was  essential  to  the 
validity  of  the  marriage  (§T1)  it  was  never  omitted.  It  was 
a  public  function,  that  is,  any  one  might  join  the  procession 
and  take  part  in  the  merriment  that  distinguished  it,  and 
Ave  are  told  that  persons  of  rank  did  not  scruple  to  wait  in 
the  street  to  see  the  l)ride.  As  evening  approached  the  pro- 
cession was  formed  before  the  house  with  torch  bearers  and 
flute  players  at  its  head.  When  all  was  ready  tlu^  marriage 
hymn  (Jiffineiiavns)  was  sung  and  the  groom  took  the  bride 
witli  a  show  of  force  from  the  arms  of  her  mother.  The 
liomans  saw  in  this  custom  a  reminis(^ence  of  the  rape  of 
the  Sa])ines,  t)ut  it  prohablv  ii^oes  far  ])ack  hevond  tlie 
founding  of  Ivome  to  the  custom  of  marriage  by  capture 
that  ])revailed  among  nniny  peoples.  The  l)ride  then  took 
her  place  in  the  procession  attended  l)y  three  boys,  jtafrliHl 
et  rndfrh)}!  (§S-3)  ;  two  of  these  walked  by  her  side,  holding 
each  a  hand,  while  the  other  carried  before  her  the  wedding 
torch  of  white  thorn  (spina  (iJIhi),  l)ehind  the  l)ride  were 
carried  the  distaff  and  spindle,  emblejns  of  domestic  life. 
The  camillus  with  his  r//y//ryv^v  also  walked  in  tlie  procession. 

87  During  the  march  were  sung  the  re  is  as  Fesreiuruil^ 
abounding  in  coarse  jests  and  personalities.  The  crowd  also 
shouted  the  ancient  marriage  cry,  the  significance  of  which 
the  liomans  themselves  did  not  uinh'rstand.  We  find  it  iu 
at  least  live  forms,  all  variations  of  the  name  Talassius  or 
Talassio,  who  was  probably  a  Sabino  divinity,  though  his 
functions  are  uidviiown.  Livy  derives  it  from  the  supposed 
name  of  a  senator  in  the  time  of  IJomulus.  The  bride 
dropped  on  the  way  one  of  three  coins  which  she  carried  a§ 
an  olfering  to  the  Lares  r(n)}pifd]es;  of  the  other  two  she 
gave  one  to  the  groom  as  an  eniblem  of  the  dowry  she 
brought  him,  and  one  to  the  Lares  of  his  house.  The 
groom     meanwhile    scattered     nuts     through     the    crowd. 


This  is  explained  by  (^atullus  as  a  token  of  his  having 
become  a  man  and  having  ])ut  away  childish  things  (§10:]^ 
l)ut  the  nuts  were  rather  a  symbol  of  fruitfulness.  The 
custom  survives  in  the  throwing  of  rice  in  modern  times. 

When  the  procession  reached  the  house,  the  bride  wouiid  88 
the  door  posts  with  bands  of  wool,  pro1)ably  a  symbol  of  her 
own  work  as  mistress  of  the  household,  and  anointed  the 
door  with  oil  and  fat,  emblems  of  plenty.  She  was  then 
lifted  carefully  over  the  threshold,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
chance  of  so  bad  an  omen  as  a  slip  of  the  foot  on  entering 
the  house  for  the  first  time.  Others,  however,  see  in  the 
custom  another  survival  of  marriage  by  capture.  She 
then  pronoun(^ed  again  the  words  of  consent:  Vhl  hi 
(Ulius^  ('(fo  (Ul'uu  and  the  doors  were  closed  against  the  o-(mi- 
eral  (Towd;  only  the  invited  guests  entered  with  the  pair. 

The  husband  met  the  wife  in  the  atrium  and  offered  her  89 
fire  and  water  in  token  of  the  life  they  were  to  live  together 
and  her  part  in  the  home.      Upon  the  hearth  was  ready  the 
wood  for  a  fire,  and  this  the  bride  kindled  with  the  marriage 


x^-" 


y 


/ 


itea3.A»^-f::iq;;.piffr-fi:-T¥^ 


Figure  l<i.    Thk  Makkfaok  Corcii 


torch  which  had  been  (tarried  Ik  fore  lier.  Tho  torch  was 
afterwards  thrown  among  the  guests  to  be  scrambled  for  as  a 
lucky  possession.  A  prayer  was  then  re(Mted  by  the  bridi^ 
uud  she   was  placed   \)N  \\\<i  prbnuba  on  the  lectas  (jntidlis 


64 


TITK    PRTVATK    LtFR    OF    TITK    KOMANS 


V 


(Fig.  10),  wliifli   always  .stood  oi\   the  wedding  night  in  the 
atrium.      Here  it  afterwards  remained  as  a  piece  of  orna- 
mental furniture  only.     On  the  next   day  was  given  iii  the 
new  home  the  second  wedding  feast  (rrjuj/ia)  to  the  friends 
and   relatives,  and   at  this  feast  the  bride  made  her  first 
offering  to  the  gods  as  a  mdlnma.     A  series  of  feasts  fol- 
lowed ,'^given  in  honor  of  the  newly  wedded  pair  by  those  in 
whose  social  circles  they  moved. 
90        The  Position  of  Women.— With  her  marriage  the  Roman 
woman  reached  a  position  unattained  by  tiie  women  of  any 
other  nation  in  the  ancient  world.     No  other  people  held  its 
Avomen  in  .*o  high  respect;  nowhere  else  did  they  exert  so 
strong  and  beneficent  an  influence.      In  iter  owii  house  the 
Ifoman   matron    was   absolute   mistress.     She   directed    its 
economy  and  supervised  the  tasks  of  the  household  slaves 
but  di(i  no  nu'nial    work  herself.     She  was  her  children's 
nurse,   and  conducted  their  early  training  and  education. 
Her  daughters  were  fitted  under  their  motiier's  eye  to  be 
mistresses  of  similar  hoTues,  and  remained  her  closest  com- 
panions  until    she  lierself  had  dressed   them  for  the  bridal 
and  their  husbands  liad  torn  them  from  her  arms.      She  was 
her  husband's  helpmeet  in  business  as  well  as  in  household 
affairs,  and  he  often  consulted  her  on  affairs  of  state.     She 
was  not   confined  at   home   to  a  set  of  so-called   women's 
apartments,  as  were  her  sisters  in  (h-eece;  the  whole  house 
was  hers.     She  received  her  husband's  guests  and  sat  at 
table  witli  them.     Even  wlien   subject  to  iha  .nanus  oi  her 
husband  the  restraint  was  so  tempered  by  law  and  custom 
(g3(;)  that  she  could  hardly  have  been  chafed  by  the  fetters 
which  had  been  forged  with  iier  own  consent  (§73). 
91        Out  of  the  house  the  matron's  dress  {slula  nidtrdndlls, 
g-2,5;»)    secured  for  her   the  most  profound    respect.     Men 
made  way  for  her  in  the  street;  she  had  a  place  at  the  pub- 
lic games,  at  the  theaters,  and  at  the  great  religious  ceremo- 
nies of  state.     She  could  give  testimony  in  the  courts,  and 


MARRIAGE    AKD    TllK    POSITION    OF    WOMEN 


65 


until  late  in  the  Republic  might  even  appear  as  an  advocate. 
Her  birthdav  was  sacrediv  observed  and  made  a  jovous  occa- 
sioii  by  the  luenibers  of  her  household,  iiiul  tlie  i)eople  us  a 
whole  celebrated  the  Mdlrondlki^  the  great  festival  on  the 
first  of  March,  and  gave  presents  to  their  wives  and  mothers. 
Finally,  if  she  came  of  a  noble  family,  she  might  be  honored, 
after  she  had  passed  away,  with  a  public  eulogy,  delivered 
from  the  ro^^fra  in  the  forum. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  education  of  women  was  92 
not  carried  far  at  Rome,  and  that  their  accomplishments 
w^ere  few,  and  rather  useful  and  homely  than  elegant.  l>ut 
the  Ronnm  women  spoke  the  purest  and  best  Latin  known 
iu  the  highest  and  most  cultivated  circles,  and  so  far  as 
accomplishments  were  concerned  their  husbands  fared  no 
l)etter.  Respectable  women  in  (Jreece  were  allowed  no  edu- 
cation at  all. 

It  inust  be  admitted,  too,  that  a  great  change  took  place  93 
in  the  last  years  of  the  Republic.  With  the  laxness  of  the 
family  life,  the  freedom  of  divorce,  and  the  inflow  of  wealth  ♦ 
and  extravagance,  the  purity  aiul  dignity  of  the  Roman 
matron  declined,  as  had  before  declined  the  manhood  and 
the  strength  of  her  father  aud  her  husband.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  ancient  writers  did  not  dwell 
upon  certain  subjects  that  are  favorites  with  our  own.  The 
simj)le  joys  of  childhood  and  domestic  life,  home,  the  praises 
of  sister,  wife,  and  mother  mav  not  have  been  too  sacred  for 
the  poet  and  the  essayist  of  Rome,  but  the  essayist  and  the 
poet  did  not  make  them  their  themes.  The  mother  of  Horace 
must  have  been  a  singularly  gifted  woman,  but  she  is  never 
mentioned  by  her  son.  The  descriptions  of  domestic  life, 
therefore,  that  have  come  down  to  us  are  either  from  Oreek 
sources,  or  are  selected  from  precisely  those  circles  where 
fashion,  profligacy,  and  impurity  made  easy  the  work  of  the 
satirist.  It  is,  therefore,  safe  to  say  that  the  pictures 
painted  for  us  in  the  verse  of  Catullus  and  Juvenal,  for 


GG 


THE    PRIVATE    LIKE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


example,  Jire  not  true  of  Koiiuui  women  as  u  class  in  the 
limes  of  winch  they  write.  The  strong,  pure  woman  of  the 
early  day  must  have  had  many  to  imitate  her  virtues  in 
the  darkest  times  of  the  Empire.  Tliere  were  mothers  then, 
as  well  as  in  the  times  of  the  rrracch/i;  there  were  wives 
as  noble  as  the  wife  of  Marcus  Brutus. 


CHAPTER   IV 

childkp:n  and  education 

Refekenc^es:  Marciuardt,  80-184;  Voi^t,  322  f.,  897f.,  455  f. ;  Goll,  "Gallus,'*  II, 
B.vnS;  Priedliinuer,  I,  456  f.,  Ill,  87(5  f. ;  Ramsay,  475  f. ;  Smith,  l^hts  Utterarius: 
Harper,  education;  Baumeister,  287,  1588  f.  :  S('hivil)er.  I'l.  7f\  82,  .^9,  90;  Lubker, 
Erziehung, 

Legal  Status. — The  position  of  the  children  in  the  94 
fittNllia  has  been  already  explained  (§§^1,  ^-Vl).  It  has  been 
shown  that  in  the  eves  of  the  law  tliev  were  little  better 
than  the  chattels  of  the  Head  of  the  House.  It  rested  with 
him  to  grant  them  the  rii>iit  to  live;  all  that  they  earned 
was  his;  they  married  at  his  bidding,  and  either  remained 
under  his  jwfexfd^^  or  passed  under  another  no  less  severe. 
It  has  also  been  suggested  that  custom  (§'3'^)  and  pictds  (§73) 
had  made  this  condition  less  rigorous  than  it  seems  to  us. 

Susceptio. — The  power  of  the  jHiterfamillds  was  displayed  95 
immediately  after  the  birth  of  the  child.  By  invariable 
custom  it  was  laid  upon  the  ground  at  his  feet.  If  he  raised 
(hdlere^  susrippn')  it  in  his  arms,  he  acknowledged  it  as  his 
own  by  the  act  {susccpfio)  and  adndtted  it  to  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  that  membership  in  a  Iioman  fanuly  implied. 
If  he  refused  to  do  so,  the  child  became  an  outcast,  without 
family,  without  the  protection  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
(g'^T),  utterly  friendless  and  forsaken.  The  disposal  of  the 
child  did  not  ordinarilv  call  for  anv  act  of  downiright  mur- 
der,  such  as  was  contemplated  in  the  case  of  I\omulus  and 
Kemus  and  was  afterwards  forbidden  by  Komulus  the  King 
(j$-)*2).  The  child  was  simply  "exposed"  [rxpdticrc)^  that  is, 
taken  by  a  slave  from  the  house  and  left  on  the  highway  to 
live  or  to  die.     AVhen  we  consider  the  slender  chance  for  life 

67 


68 


THE    PRIVATK    LIFE    oF    THE    KOMANS 


CHILDREN    AND    EDUCATION 


69 


that  tlie  Tiewhorn  cliild  has   with  ovc'U  the  tondorest  care, 
the  rcsuh  of  this  exposure  will  not  seem  (loiil)tfiiL 

96  But  tlu'i-e  Avas  a  ehaiice  I'or  htV,  and  the  mother,  power- 
less to  interpose  in  her  infant's  behalf,  often  sent  witli  it 
some  trinkets  or  trifling  articles  of  jewelry  that  would  serve 
perhaps  to  identify  it,  if  it  should  live.  Even  if  the  ehikl 
was  found  in  time  by  persons  disposed  to  save  its  life,  its 
fate  might  be  worse  than  death.  Slavery  was  the  least  of 
the  evils  to  whi-h  it  was  exposed.  Sueh  foundlings  often 
fell  iuto  the  liands  of  those  whose  trade  Avas  beggary  and 
who  trained  children  for  the  same  profession.  In  the 
time  of  the  Empire,  at  Unist,  they  cruelly  maimed  and 
deformed  their  victims,  in  order  to  excite  more  readily  the 
eomj)assion  of  those  to  wliom  they  appealed  for  alms. 
Such  things  are  still  done  in  soutbern  Europe. 

97  Dies  Lustricus. — The  first  eigbt  days  of  the  life  of  the 
acknowledircd  child  were  called  /frhnordla^  and  were  tbe 
occasion  of  various  religious  ceremonies.  During  this  time 
the  child  was  caWeA  pfipus  (§55),  although  to  weak  aiul  puny 
children  the  individual  name  might  be  given  soon  after 
birth.  On  the  ninth  day  in  the  case  of  a  boy,  on  the  eighth 
in  the  case  of  a  girl,  iho  j)rae)wu)('H  (§43)  was  given  with  due 
solemnitv.  A  sacrifice  was  offered  and  the  cerenu)nv  of 
purification  was  performed,  whieh  gave  the  day  its  name,  (h'es 
lustricus,  although  it  was  also  called  the  (lies  )t('nn'nnim  and 
ndinimlJlu.  These  ceremonies  seem  to  have  been  private; 
that  is,  it  can  not  be  shown  that  there  was  any  taking  of  the 
child  to  a  fcmplum.,  as  there  was  among  the  Jews,  or  any 
enrollment  of  the  name  npon  an  official  list.  In  the  case  of 
the  boy  the  registering  of  the  name  on  the  list  of  citizens 
may  have  occurred  at  the  time  of  putting  on  the  lofid  rirllis 
(§128). 

98  g/'  The  diiis  lustricus  was,  however,  a  time  of  rejoicing  and 
congratidation  among  the  relatives  and  friends,  and  these 
together  with  the  household  slaves  presented  the  child  with 


I 

I 


little  metal  toys  or  ornaments  in  the  form  of  flowers,  minia- 
ture axes  and  swords,  and  especially  figures  shaped  like  a  half- 
moon  (IfiHuhic),  etc.  These,  called  collectively  crej)uuflia, 
were  strung  together  and  worn  around  the  neck  and  over  the 
breast  (Eig.  IT).     They  served  in  the  first  place  as  playthings 


Figure  17.    Crkpundia 

to  keep  the  child  amused,  hence  the  naine  '^rattles,"  from 
crrpo.  Besides,  they  were  a  protection  against  witchcraft  or 
the  evil  eye  [fasci iiul in)^  especially  the  luuuhic.  More  than 
this,  thev  were  a  nutans  of  identification  in  the  ease  of  lost 
or  stolen  children,  and  for  ttiis  reason  Terence  calls  them 
})Wuunu'Ht(i.  Such  were  the  trinkets  sometimes  left  with  an 
abandoned  child  (SIh;),  their  value  depending,  of  course, 
upon  the  material  of  which  they  were  made. 

The  Bulla. — But  of  more  significance  than  these  was  the  99 
hulhf  (lurca,  which  the  father  hung  around  the  chihEs  net^k 
on  this  day,  if  he  had  not  done  so  at  the  time  of  the 
susccj/tid.  It  consisted  of  two  concave  pieces  of  gold,  like  a 
watch  case  (Eig.  IS),  fastened  together  by  a  wide  spring  of 
the  same  metal  and  containing  an  amulet  as  a  protection 
'dgain^t /(fscincitio.  It  was  hung  around  the  neck  by  a  chain 
or  cord  and  worn  upon  the  breast.     The  duUa  came  origi- 


70 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


CHILDREN    AND    EDUCATION 


71 


V 


Figure  18. 


nally  from  Etruria,^  and  for  a  long  time  the  children  of  patri- 
cians only  were  allowed  to  wear  those  of  gold,  the  plebeians 
contenting  themselves  with  an  imitation  made  of  leather, 

himof  on  a  leathern  thonsr.  In  the  course  of 
time  the  distinction  ceased  to  he  observed, 
as  we  have  seen  such  distinctions  die  out 
in  the  use  of  names  and  in  the  marrias^e 
ceremonies,  and  by  Cicero's  time  the 
hfdht  aurea  mio[ht  be  worn  l)v  the  child 
of  any  freeborn  citizen.  The  choice  of 
material  depended  rather  upon  the  wealth 
and  generosity  of  the  father  than  upon 
his  social  position.  The  girl  wore  her 
buUa  (Fig.  10)  until  the  eve  of  her  wed- 
ding day,  laying  it  aside  with  other  child- 
ish things,  as  we  have  seen  (§10) ;  the  boy  wore  his  until 
he  assumed  the  tixjd  virV'is^  when  it  was  dedicated  to  the 
Lares  of  the  house 
and  carefully  pre- 
served. If  the  bov 
became  a  successful 
general  and  won  the 
coveted  honor  of  a 
triumph,  he  always 
wore  his  buUii  in  the 
triumphal  proces- 
sion as  a  protection 
against  envy. 

100  Nurses.— The  mother  was  the  chiUVs  nurse  (§00)  not 
only  in  the  days  of  the  Kepublic  but  even  into  the  Empire, 
the    Romans    having   heeded    the   teachings   of    nature   in 


Figure  19.    Gikl's  Neck  lack 


^  Tlie  influence  of  Etruria  upon  Rome  faded  before  that  of 
Greece  (>:^5),  but  from  Etruria  the  Romans  got  the  art  of  divination, 
certain  forms  of  architecture,  the  insignia  of  royalty,  and  the 
games  of  the  circus  and  the  am piiit heater. 


this  respect  longer  than   any  other  civilized  nation  of  the 
old   world.     Of    course   it   was   not   always    possible    then, 
as    it    is    not    always    possible    now,    for    the    mother    to 
nurse    her    children,    and    then    her    place    was    taken    by 
a  slave  {)ifttrl.r)^  to  whom  the  name  indter  seems  to  have 
been  given  out  of  affection.     In  the  ordinary  care  of  the 
children,  too,  the  mother  was  assisted,  but  only  assisted,  by 
slaves.     Under   the  eve  of  the  mother,   slaves  washed  and 
dressed  the  child,  told  it  stories, 
sang  it  Inllabies,  ami  rocked  it  to 
sleep  on  the  arm  or  in  a  cradle. 
Kone  of  these  nurserv  stories  have 
come  down   to  us,  but  Quintilian 
tells  us  that  Aesop's  fables  resem- 
bled them.     For  a   picture    of    a 
cradle  see  Smith  under  the  words 
cunac  and  cfuidhuhc  in  Tiich  undei' 
rntulria  is  a  picture    of    a    nurse 
giving  a  bal)vits  bath.      The  place 

of  the  modern  baby  carriage  was  taken  by  a  litter  (Jerfica)^ 
and  a  terra  cotta  tigure  has  come  down  to  us  (Fig.  '10)  repre- 
senting: a  child  carried  in  such  a  litter  bv  two  men. 

After  the  Punic  wars  (^5)  it  became  customary  for  tiie  101 
well-to-do  to  select  for  the  chihVs  nurse  a  (Ireek  slave,  that 
the  child  might  acquire  the  Greek  language  as  naturally  as 
its  own.  In  Latin  literature  are  many  passages  that  testify 
to  the  affection  felt  for  eacli  other  l)y  nur^e  and  child, 
an  affection  that  lasted  on  into  manhood  and  womanhood. 
It  was  a  common  thing  for  the  young  wife  to  take  with  her 
into  her  new  home,  as  her  adviser  and  confidant,  the  nurse 
who  had  watched  over  her  in  infancv.  Faithfulness  on  ^ 
the  part  of  such  slaves  was  also  frequently  repaid  by 
mannnn'ssion. 

Playthings.— But  little  is  known  of  the  playthings,  i)ets,  102 
and  games  of  Koman  children,  because  as  has  been  said  (§1^3) 


FuirKK  20.     Child  in  Littkr 


V 


I  I 


72 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


domestic  life  was  not  a  favorite  theme  of  Iioman  writers  and 
no  books  were  then  written  especially  for  the  young.  Still 
there  are  scattered  references  in  literature  from 
which  we  can  learn  something,  and  more  is  known 
from  monumental  sources  (§10).  This  evidence 
shows  that  playthings  were  numerous  and  of  ver^ 
many  kinds.  The  crepiuulia  have  been  men- 
tioned already  (§98),  and  these  miniature  tools 
and  implements  seem  to  have  been  very  common. 
Dolls  there  were,  too,  and  some  of  these  have 
come  down  to  us,  though  we  can  not  always  dis- 
tinguish l)etween  statuettes  and  genuine  play- 
things. Some  were  made  of  clay,  others  of  wax, 
and  even  jointed  arms  and  legs  were  not  unknown 
(Fig.  21).  Little  wagons  and  carts  were  also 
common  (Schreiber,  LXXXII,  10),  and  Horace 
speaks  of  hitching  mice  to  toys  of  this  sort. 
There  are  numerous  pictures  and  descriptions 
of  chiUlren  spinning  tops,  making  them  revolve  by  blows 
of     a    whiplash,    as    in    Europe    nowadays.       Hoops    also 


Figure  21. 

Jf)rNTK,D 


Figure  22.    Children  Playing  Ball 


were  a  favorite  plaything,  driven  with  a  stick  and  having 
pieces  of  metal  fastened  to  them  to  warn  people  of 
their  approach.      l^oys   walked   on    stilts   and  played    with 


CHILDREN'    AND    EDUCATION 


73 


balls  (Fig.  2'2),  too,  l)ut  as  men  enjoyed  this  sport  as  well, 
it  may  l)e  deferred  until  we  reach  the  subject  of  amuse- 
ments (§:31S). 

Pets  and  Games. — Pets  were  even  more  common  tlicni03 
than  now,  and  then  as  now  the  dog  was  easily  first  hi  the 
affections  of  chil- 
d  r  en  (Schreiber, 
LXXXII,  ()).  The 
cat,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  hardlv 
known  until  very 
late  in  the  historv  of 
Greece  and  l\ome. 
l>irds  Avere  very 
c  o  m  m  o  n  1  v  made 
pets,  and  besides 
the  doves  and  pig- 
eons which  are  fa- 
miliar to  us  as  well, 
wo  are  told  that 
ducks,  crows,  and 
fjuail  were  pets  of 
children.  So  also 
were  geese,  odd  as 
this  seems  to  us, 
and  the  statue  of 
a  child  struggling 
with  a  goose  as  large 
as  himself  is  well 
known  (Fig.  23). 
^I  o  n  k  e  y  s  were 
known,  but  could 
not  have  been  com- 
mon. Mice  have  been  mentioned  alreadv.  (uimes  of  juanv 
kinds  were  played  by  children,  but  we  can  only  guess  at  the 


''^"  "^ ^ 

FuajRE  2:i.     J5()Y  AXi)  G(H)sk 


74 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


CHILDREN    AND    EDUCATION 


75 


nature  of  most  of  them,  us  we  have  hardly  any  formal  descrip- 
tions. There  were  games  corresponding  to  our  Odd  or  Even, 
-  Blindman's  Buff,  Hide  and  Seek,  Jackstones  (§320),  and 
Seesaw  (Schreiber,  LXXIX  and  LXXX).  Pebbles  and  nuts 
were  used  in  games  something  hke  our  marbles,  and  there 
were  board-games  also.  'J'o  these  may  be  added  for  boys 
riding,  swimming,  and  wrestling,  although  these  were  taken 
too  seriously,  perhaps,  to  be  called  games  and  belonged 
rather  to  their  training  for  the  duties  of  citizenship. 

104  Home  Training. — The  training  of  the  children  was  con- 
ducted bv  the  father  and  mother  in  lu^rson.  More  stress  was 
laid  upon  the  moral  than  upon  the  intellectual  development: 
reverence  for  the  gods,  respect  for  the  law,  unquestioning 
and  instant  obedience  to  authority,  truthfulness,  and  self- 
reliance  were  the  nu)st  important  lessons  for  the  child  to 
learn.  Much  of  this  came  from  the  constant  association  of 
the  chiUlren  Avith  their  parents,  which  was  the  characteristic 
feature  of  the  home  training  of  the  Romans  as  compared 
with  that  of  other  peoples  of  the  time.  The  children  sat 
at  table  with  their  elders  or  helped  to  serve  the  meals. 
Until  the  age  of  seven  both  l)oys  and  girls  had  their  mother 
for  their  teacher.  From  her  they  learned  to  speak  coi'rectly 
their  native  tono^ue,  and  Latin  rhetoricians  tell  us  that  the 
best  Latin  was  spoken  by  the  noble  women  of  the  great 
houses  of  Rome.  The  mother  taught  them  the  elements  of 
reading  and  writing  and  as  much  of  the  simpler  operations 
of  arithmetic  as  children  so  young  could  learn. 

105  From  a1)out  the  age  of  seven  the  boy  passed  under  the 
care  of  regular  teachers,  but  the  girl  remained  her  mother's 
constant  companion.  Her  schooling  was  necessarily  cut 
short,  because  the  Roman  girl  became  a  wife  so  young  ($5^)7), 
and  there  were  things  to  learn  in  the  meantinu'  tluit  books 
do  not  teach.  From  her  nu)ther  she  learned  to  spin  and 
weave  and  sew:  even  Augustus  wore  garments  woven  by  his 
wife.     Rv  her  mother  she  was  initiated  into  all  the  mysteries 


of  household  economy  and  fitted  to  take  her  place  as  the 
mistress  of  a  household  of  her  own,  to  be  a  Roman  mdtromi^ 
the  most  dignified  position  to  which  a  woman  could  aspire 
in  the  ancient  world  (ggUO,  1)1). 

The  boy,  except  during  the  hours  of  school,  was  e(iually  106 
his  father's  companion.,  If  the  father  was  a  farmer,  as  all 
Romans  v/ere  in  earlier  times,  the  boy  helped  in  the  fields 
and  learned  to  plow  and  plant  and  reap.  If  the  father 
was  a  man  of  high  position  and  lived  in  the  capital,  the  boy 
stood  by  him  in  his  hall  as  he  received  his  guests,  learned  to 
know  their  faces,  names,  and  rank,  and  acquired  a  p»ractical 
knowledge  of  politics  and  affairs  of  state.  If  the  father  was 
a  senator,  the  boy,  in  the  earlier  days  only  it  is  true,  accom- 
panied him  to  the  senate  house  to  hear  the  debates  and 
listen  to  the  great  orators  of  the  time;  and  the  son  could 
always  go  Avith  him  to  the  forum  when  he  Avas  :in  advocate 
or  concerned  in  a  public  triaJ. 

Then  as  every  Roman  was  bred  a  soldier  the  father  107 
trained  the  son  in  the  use  of  arms  and  in  the  various  military 
exercises,  as  well  as  in  the  manly  sports  of  riding,  swim- 
ming, wrestling,  and  boxing.  In  these  exercises  strength 
and  agility  v/ere  kept  in  view,  rather  than  the  grace  of  move- 
ment and  synnnetrical  develo})ment  of  form,  o]i  which  the 
(ireeks  laid  so  much  stress.  On  great  occasions,  too,  when 
the  cabinets  in  the  atrium  were  opened  and  the  wax  busts  of 
their  ancestors  displayed,  the  boy  and  girl  of  noble  family 
were  always  present  and  learned  the  history  of  the  family  of 
which  they  were  a  part,  and  v/itli  it  the  history  of  Rome. 

Schools. — The  actual  instruction  given  to  the  children  by  108 
the  father  would  vary  with  his  own  education  aiu1  at  best  be 
subject  to  all  sorts  of  interruptions  due  to  his  private  busi- 
ness or  his  public  duties.  AVe  find  that  this  embarrassment 
was  appreciated  in  very  early  times,  ami  that  it  was  custom- 
ary for  a  imter  fmniUd.s  who  happened  to  have  among  his 
slaves  one  competent  to  give  the  needed  instruction,  to  turn 


76 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


CHILPREN    ANP    EDT^CATION 


77 


over  to  Iiini  tlie  actual  teaeliiug  of  the  children.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  slaves  taken  in  war  were  often  much 
better  educated  than  their  lioman  masters.  Xot  all  house- 
hohls,  however,  would  include  a  competent  teacher,  and  it 
would  seem  onl}'  natural  for  the  fortunate  owner  of  such  a 
slave  to  receive  into  his  house  at  fixed  hours  of  the  dav  the 
children  of  his  friends  and  neighbors  to  be  taught  together 
with  his  own. 

109  For  this  privilege  he  might  charge  a  fee  for  his  own  bene- 
fit, as  we  are  told  that  Cato  actually  did,  or  he  might  allow 
the  slave  to  retain  as  his  penVifon  {^-V-))  the  little  presents 
given  him  by  his  pupils  in  lieu  of  direct  payment.  The  next 
step,  one  taken  in  times  too  early  to  be  accuratt^ly  fixed,  was 
to  select  for  the  school  a  more  (M)nvenient  place  than  a 
private  house,  one  that  Avas  central  and  easily  accessible, 
and  to  receive  as  pupils  all  Avho  could  pay  the  modest  fee 
that  was  demanded.  To  these  schools  girls  as  well  as  boys 
were  admitted,  but  for  the  reason  given  in  §105  the  girls 
had  little  time  fen*  studvin^^  more  than  their  mothers  could 
teaeh  thein,  and  those  who  did  carry  their  studies  further 
camu  usually  of  families  who  preferred  to  educate^  their 
daughters  in  the  ])rivaey  of  their  own  homes  and  could 
atford  to  do  so.  The  exce])tions  to  this  rule  w(Te  so  few, 
that  from  this  point  we  nniy  consider  the  education  of  boys 
alone. 

110  Subjects  Taught  in  Elementary  Schools.— In  these  ele- 
mentarv  schools  the  oidv  subjects  tau<^ht  were  readinir, 
writing,  and  arithmetic.  In  the  first,  great  stress  was  laid 
upon  the  ])ronunciation:  the  sounds  were  easv  enou<rh  but 
quantity  was  hard  to  master.  The  teacher  pronounced  first 
syllable  by  ^^yllable,  i\\Qn  the  separate  words,  and  finally  the 
whole  sentence,  the  pupils  pronouncing  after  him  at  the  top.'^ 
of  their  voices.  In  the  teaching  of  writing,  wax  tablets 
(P'ig.  '^4)  wxn-e  employed,  much  as  slates  were  a  generation 
ago.     The  teacher  first  traced  with  a  stilus  the  letters  that 


>l\ 


FKii'KK  '1\.    Waxki)  Tahlkts  and  Stilus 


served  as  a  copy,  then  he  guided   the  pu])irs   hand  with  his 

own   until   the  child   had   learned  to  form   the  letters  inde- 

j)endcntly.      When   some 

dexterity   had   been    ac- 

(juired,    the     pupil    was 

tauuiit    to    use   the   reed 

pen   and  write   with  ink 

ui)on  papyrus.    For  prac- 
tice, sheets  were  used  that 

had  had  one  side  written 

upon    already    for    more 

important    purposes.     If 

any   bocks    at    all     were 

used     in    these    schools, 

the  ])upils  must  have  nuule  them    for  themselves  by  writing 

from  the  teacher's  dictation. 

In  arithmetic*   memtal   calculation    was   emi)hasized,    but  ill 

the  pupil  was  taught  to   use  his  fingers  in  a  very  elaborate 

wav   that   is   not   now   thorouofhlv   understood,    and   harder 

sums  we^re  worked 
out  Avith  the  hel]) 
of  the  reckoning 
board  (r^/>rrr?(N,  Fig. 
2^)).  In  addition  to 
all  this,  attention 
was  paid  to  the 
training  of  the 
memory,  and  the 
pupil  was  made  to 
learn  by  heart  all 
sorts    of  wise  and 

l)ithy  sayings  and  especially  the  Twelve  Tables  of  the  Law. 
1'hese  last  became  a  regular  fetich  in  the  schools,  and  even 
when  the  language  in  which  they  were  written  had  become 
obsolete  pui)ils  continued  to  learn  and  recite  them.     Cicero 


FlGTRK  'i").      AHACrS 


78 


THE    PRIVATK    LTFK    OF    THE    ROMANS 


CHILDREN    AND    EDU(\VTION 


79 


liiid   leariKMl    tlicm    in  liis  Loyliood,  Imi    wiiliin  his:  lifetime 
they  were  (h*()])pe(l  from  the  sehools. 

112  Grammar  Schools. — Among  the  resultt^  of  eoiitact  with 
other  peoples  that  followed  the  runie  wars  (§5)  was  the 
extension  of  education  at  Rome  beyond  these  elementary 
and  strictly  utilitarian  subjects.  The  (J reek  language  came 
to  l)e  generally  learned  (§101)  and  Greek  ideas  of  education 
were  in  some  degree  adopted.  Schools  were  established  in 
which  the  central  thing  was  the  study  of  the  Greek  poets, 
and  these  schools  we  may  call  Gramnuir  Schools  because  the 
teacher  was  called  (jraminaticus.  Homer  was  long  the  uni- 
versal text-book,  and  students  were  not  only  taught  the 
language,  but  were  instructed  in  the  matters  of  geography, 
mythology,  antiquities,  history,  and  ethics  suggested  by  the 
portions  of  the  text  which  they  read.  The  range  of  instruc- 
tion and  its  value  depended  entirely  uj)on  the  teacher,  as 
does  such  instruction  to-dav,  l)ut  it  was  at  best  frao*mentarv 
and  disconnected.  There  was  no  systematic  study  of  any  of 
these  subjects,  not  even  of  history,  despite  its  interest  and 
j)ractical  value  to  a  world-ranging  i)eople  like  the  Komans. 

113  The  Latin  language  was  soon  made  the  subject  of  similar 
study,  at  first  in  separate  schools.  The  lack  of  Latin  poetry 
to  work  upon,  for  prose  authors  were  not  yet  made  text- 
books, led  to  the  translation  by  a  Greek  slave,  Livius 
Andronicus  (:3d  century  B.C.),  of  the  Odyssey  of  Homer  into 
Latin  Saturnian  verses.  From  this  translation,  rude  as  the 
surviving  fragments  show  it  to  have  been,  dates  the  begin- 
ning of  Latin  literature,  and  it  was  not  until  this  literature 
had  furnished  poets  like  Terence,  Vergil,  and  Horace,  that 
the  rough  Saturnians  of  Livius  Aiulronicus  disappeared  from 
the  schools. 

114  Li  these  (Jramnuir  Schools,  Greek  as  well  as  Latin,  great 
stress  seems  to  have  been  laid  upon  elocution,  a  thing  less 
surprising  when  we  consider  the  importance  of  oratory  under 
the  l\epublic.     The  teacher  had  the  pupils  pronounce  after 


A 


liim  first  the  words,  then  the  clauses,  and  finally  the  complete 
sentences.  The  elements  of  rhetoric  were  taught  in  some  of 
these  schools,  but  technical  instruction  in  the  subject  was 
not  given  until  the  establishment  at  a  much  later  period  of 
special  schools  of  rhetoric.  In  the  Grammar  Schools  were 
also  taught  music  and  geometry,  and  these  made  complete 
the  ordinary  education  of  boyhood. 

Schools  of  Rhetoric. — The  Schools  of  Ehetoric  were  115 
formed  on  (ireek  lines  and  conducted  by  (Jreek  teachers.  • 
They  were  not  a  part  of  the  regular  system  of  education, 
])ut  corresponded  more  nearly  to  our  colleges,  being  fre- 
(juented  by  persons  beyond  the  age  of  boyhood  and  with 
rare  exceptions,  of  the  higher  classes  only.  Li  these  schools 
the  study  of  ])rose  authors  was  begun,  but  the  main  thing 
was  the  practice  of  composition.  This  was  begun  in  its 
simplest  form,  tlie  narrative  {itdrrdtio)^  and  continued  step 
by  step  until  the  end  in  view^  w^as  reached,  the  practice  of 
l)ublic  speaking  ((lerhlmatid).  One  of  the  intermediate 
forms  was  the  sud^oria^  in  which  the  students  took  sides  on 
some  disputed  point  of  history  and  supported  their  views  by 
argument.  A  favorite  exercise  also  was  the  writing  of  a 
speech  to  be  put  in  the  mouth  of  some  ])erson  famous  in 
legend  or  history.  How  effective  these  could  ])e  made  is 
seen  in  the  speeches  inserted  in  their  histories  by  Sallust, 
Livy,  and  Tacitus. 

Travel. — In  the  case  of  persons  of  the  noblest  and  most  116 
wealth}^  families,  or  those  whose  talents  in  early  manhood 
promised  a  brilliant  future,  the  training  of  the  schools  was 
sure  to  be  supplemented  by  a  period  of  travel  and  residence 
abroad.  Greece,  lihodes,  and  Asia  Minor  were  the  most 
frequently  visited,  whether  the  young  Koman  cared  for  the 
scenes  of  great  historical  events  and  the  rich  collections  of 
works  of  literature  and  art,  or  merely  enjoyed  the  natural 
charms  and  social  splendors  of  the  gay  and  luxurious  cap- 
itals of  the  east.     For  the  purposes  of  serious  study  Athens 


^ 


80 


THK    PlilVATE    LIFE    OF    TIIF    RO>iANS 


(  IIILDHKN    AM)    KDUCATtoK 


81 


ofTei'od  the  irivntost  attrnction.s  and  nu^'lii  alino.^t  litivo  been 
culled  the  iiiuvcrsity  of  liome,  in  tins  respect-  stuudiug  to 
Italv  iiiucli  us  (Jennany  now  stands  to  the  United  States. 
It  must  1)0  remembered,  however,  that  the  Homaii  who 
studied  in  Athens  Avas  as  familiar  with  (ireek  as  Avith  his 
native  Latin  and  for  this  reason  was  much  better  prepared 
to  x)rofit  by  the  lectures  he  heard  than  is  the  average  Amer- 
ican who  now  studies  on  the  continent. 

117  Apprenticeship. — There  Avere  certain  matters,  a  knoAvl- 
edire  of  Avhich  Avas  essential  to  a  successful  public  life,  for 
training  in  Avhich  no  provision  Avas  made  by  the  Roman 
system  of  education.  Such  matters  Avere  jurisprudence, 
administration  and  diplomacy,  and  Avar.  It  Avas  custonniry, 
therefore,  for  the  young  citizen  to  attach  himself  for  a  time 
to  some  older  man,  eminent  in  these  lines  or  in  some  one  ot 
them,  in  order  to  gain  an  opportunity  for  observation  and 
practical  experience  in  the  performance  of  duties  tliat  wouhl 
sooner  or  later  devolve  upon  him.  So  Cicero  learned  the 
civil  hiAV  under  Quintus  Mucins  ScacA^ola,  the  most  eminent 
jurist  of  the  time,  and  in  later  years  the  young  Marcus 
Coelius  Eufus  in  turn  serA^ed  the  same  voluntary  apprentice- 
ship {tlrdcinium  fori)  under  Cicero.  This  arrangement  Avas 
not  only  very  adA^antageous  to  the  young  men  but  Av\as  con- 
sidered A^ery  honorable  for  those  under  Avhom  they  studied. 

118  In  the  same  Avay  the  governors  of  provinces  and  generals 
in  the  field  Avere  attended  by  a  A^oluntary  staff  (roJiors)  of 
young  men,  Avliom  they  had  invited  to  accompany  them  at 
state  expense  for  personal  or  political  reasons.  These 
flrdnes  became  familiar  in  this  AA^ay  {flrdcinium  mlUtiav) 
with  the  practical  side  of  administration  and  Avar,  Avhile  at 
the  same  time  they  were  relieved  of  many  of  the  hardships 
and  dangers  suffered  by  those,  less  fortunate,  who  had  to 
rise  from  the  ranks.  It  Avas  this  staff  of  inexperienced 
young  men  Avho  hid  in  their  tents  or  Avent  back  to  Rome 
AA^hen   Caesar   determined    to   meet   Ariovistus    in    battle, 


\ 


iW^ 


although  some  of  thiMn,  no  (h)ub1,  made  galhmt  soldiers  and 
wise  commanders  afterward. 

Remarks  on  the  Schools. — Having  considered  tlie  i)ossi- 119 
bilities  in  the  way  of  education  and  training  within  the  reach 
of  the  more  favored  fcAV,  Ave  may  now  go  back  to  the  Ele- 
mentary and  (irammar  Schools  to  get  an  idea  of  tlie  actual 
school  life  of  the  ordinarv  Ivoman  bov.  While  these  were 
not  puldic  schools  in  our  sense  of  the  Avord,  that  is,  Avhile 
they  Avere  not  supported  or  supervised  by  the  state,   and 


FlOTRE  2«.      A   KOMAV  SCHOOI. 

while  attendance  Avas  not  compulsory,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  the  elements  at  least  of  education,  a  knowledge  of  the 
three  Il's,  Avere  more  generally  dilTused  among  the  Romans 
than  among  any  other  people  of  the  ancient  world.  The 
schools  Avere  distinctly  democratic  in  this,  that  they  Avero 
open  to  all  classes,  that  the  fees  were  little  more  than 
nominal,  that  so  far  as  concerned  discipline  and  the  treat- 
ment of  tlie  pupils  no  distinction  Avas  made  betAveen  the 
children  of  the  humblest  and  of  the  most  lordly  families. 


82 


THE    PRIVATH    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


CHILPKEX    AND    EDUCATION 


S3 


120  The  school  wiis  usually  in  a  jfrrf/nla,  a  shodlike  attach- 
ment to  a  public  building,  roofed  agaiust  the  sun  and  rain, 

but  open  at  the  sides 
and  furnished  merely 
with  rough  benches 
without  backs.  The 
children  were  expos- 
ed, therefore,  to  all 
the  distractions  of  the 
busy  town  life  around 
them,  and  the  people 
jiving  near  were  in 
turn  annoyed  bv  the 
noisy  recitations 
(§110)  and  even 
noisier  punishments. 
A  picture  of  a  school- 
room from  a  wall 
painting  in  TTercula- 
neum  is  shown  in 
Fig.  26  and  an 
ancient  caricature,  by  a  schoolboy  probably,  in  Fig.  27. 

121  The  Teacher.— The  teacher  was  originally  a  slave,  per- 
haps usually  a  freedman.  The  position  was  not  an  honor- 
able one,  though  this  depended  upon  the  character  of  the 
teacher  himself,  and  while  the  pupils  feared  the  master  they 
seem  to  have  had  little  respect  for  him.  The  pay  he 
received  was  a  mere  pittance,  varying  from  three  dollars  a 
year  for  the  elementary  teacher  {Ufterdtor^  magisfrr 
litterdnim)  to  five  or  six  times  that  sum  for  a  (/rain/naficu.^ 
(§112).  In  addition  to  the  fee,  the  pupils  were  expected  to 
bring  the  master  from  time  to  time  little  presents,  a  custom 
persisting  probably  from  the  time  Avhen  these  presents  were 
his  only  reward  (glOO).  The  fees  varied,  however,  with  the 
qualifications   of  the   master,   and  some  whose  reputations 


Figure  27.    Caricatirk  of  a  School 


J 


were    established    and    whose    schools    were    ''fashionable'' 
charged    no    fees   at    all,    but    left    the   amount   to   be   paid        ' 
[lunidrdrivni)  to  the  generosity  of  their  patrons. 

Schooldays  and  Holidays.— The  schoolday  began  before  122 
sunrise,  as  did  all  the  work  at  Kome  on  account  of  the  heat 
in  the  middle  of  the  day  (cf.  §T0).  The  students  brought 
candles  by  which  to  study  until  it  became  light,  and  the  roof 
was  soon  black  Avith  the  grime  and  smoke.  The  session 
lasted  until  time  for  the  noonday  luncheon  and  siesta  (§302), 
and  was  resumed  in  the  afternoon.  We  do  not  know 
definitely  that  there  was  any  fixed  length  for  the  school- 
year.  We  know  that  it  regularly  began  on  the  24th  of 
March  and  that  there  were  numerous  holidays,  notably  the 
Saturnalia  in  December  and  the  Qninqnatria  from  the  lOtli 
to  the  2:)d  of  March.  The  great  religious  festivals,  too, 
especially  those  celebrated  with  games,  would  naturally  be 
observed  by  the  schools,  and  apparently  the  market  days 
{)iU)uJin(ie)  were  also  holidays.  It  was  until  lately  supposed 
that  there  was  no  school  from  the  last  of  June  until  the 
first  of  November,  but  this  view  rested  upon  an  incorrect 
interpretation  of  certain  passages  of  Horace  and  Martial 
which  are  now  otherwise  explained.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  the  children  of  wealthy  parents  would  be  absent  from 
Rome  during  the  hot  season,  and  this  would  at  least  cut 
down  the  attendance  in  some  of  the  schools  and  might  per- 
haps close  them  altogether. 

The  Paedagogus. — The  boy  of  good  family  was  always  123 
attended  by  a  trustworthy  slave  {paalafidjius)^  who  accom- 
panied him  to  school,  remained  with  him  during  the  sessions, 
and  saw  him  safelv  home  aij^ain  when  school  was  out.  If 
the  boy  had  wealthy  parents,  he  might  have,  besides,  one  or 
more  slaves  (pedlsequl)  to  carry  his  satchel  and  tablets. 
The  jmedaydgus  was  usually  an  elderly  man,  selected  for  his 
good  character  and  expected  to  keep  the  boy  out  of  all  harm, 
moral  as   well  as  physical,     lie  was  not  a  teacher,  despite 


84 


THK    PHIVATK    LIFE    OF    TTTF    KOMAXS 


CHILDREN    AND    EDUCATION 


85 


124 


the  incaiiiiig  of  the  Kiiglish  derivjitive,  ('xce|)i  ihiit  iifter  the 
learning  of  (ireek  hccMine  general   a  (Jrcck  slave  was  usually 

selected  for  the  posi- 
tion in  order  that  the 
bov  niiirht  not  foro^et 
what  he  had  learned 
from  his  nurse  (;il01). 
The  scope  of  his  reg- 
ular duties  is  clearly 
shown  hv  the  Latin 
words  used  sometimes 
instead  of  jxu'dauoijiis: 

and  rc('f(n'.  He  was 
addressed,  by  his  ward 
as  (l(nni)ius^  and  seems 
to  have  had  the  right 
to  compel  obedience 
by  mild  punishments 
(Vig.  '28).  His  duties 
ceased  when  the  bov 
assumed  the  toga  of 
manhood,  but  the 
same  warm  atfection 
often  continued  be- 
tween them  as  between 
the  woman  and  her 
nurse  (glOl). 

Discipline.  —  The 
discipline  seems  to 
have  been  really  Roman  in  its  severity,  if  we  nniy  judge 
from  the  picture  of  a  school  above  referred  to  (i^l'^O)  and  l)y 
the  grim  references  to  the  rod  and  ferule  in  Juvenal  and 
Martiah  Horace  has  given  to  his  teacher,  Orbilius,  a  death- 
less fame  by  the  adjective  phlgo^us.     From  Nepos  we  learn 


Fim'KK  2S.     l*AKDAtJ<Mjrs 


1i 


that  then  as  now  teachers  might  have  appealed  to  the 
natural  emulation  between  Avell-bred  boys,  and  we  know^that 
prizes,  too,  were  otfered.  Perhaps  we  may  think  the  ferule 
well  deserved  when  we  read  of  the  schoolboy's  trick  immor- 
tjilized  by  Persius.     The  passage  (III,  4i  f.)  is  worth  quoting 

in  full: 

S((epe  ocnlo.s^  metninl^  tangeham parvus  ollvo, 
(Tra)iiUa  si  noUem  moriturl  verba   Cdtonis 
Discere  et  insdno  muUntn  laudanda  magistrd  !^ 

End  of  Childhood.— There  was  no   special   ceremony  to  125 
mark  the  passing  of  girlhood  into  womanhood,  but  for  the 
boy  the  attainment  of  his  majority  was  marked  by  the  laying 
aside  of  the  crimson-bordered  toga  p^raetexta  and  the  putting     -^ 
on  of  the  pure  wdiite  toga  virllis.     There  was  no  fixed  year, 
corresponding  to  the  twenty-first  with  us,  in  which  the  puer    - 
became  luvenis;  something  depended  upon  the  physical  and 
intellectual  development  of  the  boy  himself,  something  \^\^o\\ 
the  w^ill  or  caprice  of  his  2)atGr  fainilids,  more  perhaps  upon 
the  time  in  which  he  lived.    We  may  say  generally,  however, 
that  the  toga  virlUs  w\as  assumed  between  the  fourteenth 
and    seventeenth    years,    the   later   age   belonging   to    the 
earlier  time  when  citizenship  carried  with  it  more  respo-.si- 
bility    than   under   the    Empire   and    demanded    a   greater 

maturity. 

For  the  classical  period  we  may  put  the  age  required  ntl26 
sixteen,  and  if  we  add  to  this  the  tirorlniuni  (§11T),  which 
foUow^ed  the  donning  of  the  garb  of  manhood,  we  shall  have 
the  seventeen  years  after  the  expiration  of  which  the  citizen 
had  been  liable  in  ancient  times  to  military  duty.  The  day 
was  even  less  precisely  fixed.  AVe  should  expect  the  birth- 
day at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  year,  but  it  seems  to 
have  been  the  more  usual,  but  by  no  means  invariable,  cus- 

»  ♦'Often,  I  remember,  as  a  small  hoy  I  used  to  ^ive  my  eyes  a 
toucli  with  oil,  if  I  did  not  want  to  learn  Cato's  o;rand  dyin^  spe^cli, 
sure  to  be  raptm'ously  applauded  by  my  wrong-headed  master.^' 


>  .1 


86 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


torn  to  select  for  the  ceremony  the  feast  of  Librx*  which 
happened  to  come  nearest  to  the  seventeenth  birthday.  This 
feast  was  celebrated  on  the  ITth  of  March  and  was  called 
the  libcrdJia,  Xo  more  appropriate  time  could  have  been 
selected  to  suggest  the  freer  life  of  manhood  upon  which 
the  boy  was  now  about  to  enter. 

127  The  Liberalia. — The  festivities  of  the  great  day  began  in 
the  early  morning,  when  the  boy  laid  before  the  Lares  of  his 
house  the  hiilla  (§1K))  and  toga  praeiexta^  called  together  the 
Insignia  pneritiae.  A  sacrifice  was  then  offered,  and  the 
bulla  was  hung  over  the  hearth,  not  to  be  taken  down  and 
worn  again  except  on  some  occasion  when  the  man  who  had 
worn  it  as  a  boy  should  be  in  danger  of  the  envy  of  men  and 
gods.  The  boy  then  dressed  himself  in  the  tunica  recta 
(§76),  having  one  or  two  crimson  stripes  if  he  was  the  son  of 
a  senator  or  a  knight,  and  over  this  was  carefully  draped  the 
toga  virilis.  This  was  also  called  in  contrast  to  the  gayer 
garb  of  boyhood  the  toga  j)ura^  and  with  reference  to  the 
freedom  of  manhood  the  toga  libera, 

128  Then  began  the  procession  to  the  forum.  The  fatlier 
had  gathered  his  slaves  and  freedmen  and  clients,  had  been 
careful  to  notify  his  relatives  and  friends,  and  had  used  all 
his  personal  and  political  influence  to  make  the  escort  of  his 
son  as  numerous  and  imposing  as  possible.  If  the  ceremony 
took  place  on  the  llberdlia^  the  forum  was  sure  to  be  crowded 
with  similar  processions  of  rejoicing  friends.  Here  were 
extetided  the  formal  congratulations,  and  the  name  of  one 
more  citizen  was  added  to  the  official  list.  An  offering  was 
then  made  in  the  temple  of  Liber  ori  the  ('apitoline  Hill, 
and  the  day  ended  with  a  feast  at  the  father's  house. 


I 


ih 


CHAPTER  V 

DEPENDENTS:   SLAVES  AND  CLIENTS.     HOSPITES 

References:  Marquardt,  135-212;  Goll,  II.  114-212;  Giihl  and  Koner,  764-772; 
Friedlander,  I,  404f. ;  Ramsay,  124  f . ;  VnxiXy-Wi^sowA,  clientes;  Smith,  servus, 
Ubertus,  dims,  cUentela,  hofipitium;  Harper,  servus,  llberti,  dientes;  Liibker,  servi, 
libertlnas,  hospitimn^  patronus. 

Growth  of  Slavery. — So  far  as  we  may  learn  from  history  129 
and  legend,  slavery  was  always  known  at  Rome.  In  the 
early  days  of  the  Republic,  however,  the  farm  was  the  only 
place  where  slaves  were  employed.  The  fact  that  most  of 
the  Romans  wore  farmers  and  that  thev  and  their  free 
laborers  were  constantly  called  from  the  fields  to  fight  the 
battles  of  their  country  led  to  a  gradual  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  slaves,  until  they  were  far  more  numerous  than  the  free 
laborers  who  worked  for  hire.  We  can  not  tell  when  the 
custom  became  general  of  employing  slaves  in  personal 
service  and  in  industrial  pursuits,  but  it  was  one  of  the 
grossest  evils  resulting  from  Rome's  foreign  conquests.  In 
the  last  century  of  the  Republic  all  manual  labor,  almost  all 
trades,  and  certain  of  what  we  now  call  professions  were  in 
the  hands  of  slaves.  Not  only  were  free  laborers  unable  to 
compete  with  slaves,  but  every  occupation  in  which  slaves 
engaged  was  degraded  in  the  eyes  of  freemen,  until  all  labor 
was  looked  upon  as  dishonorable.  The  small  farms  were 
gradually  absorbed  in  the  vast  estates  of  the  rich,  the  sturdy 
yeomanry  of  Rome  disappeared,  and  by  the  time  of  Augustus 
the  freeborn  citizens  of  Italy  who  were  not  soldiers  were 
either  slaveholders  themselves  or  the  idle  proletariate  of  the 
cities. 

Ruinous  as   were   the  economic   results  of  slavery,   tliel30 
moral  effects  were  no  less  destructive.     It  is  to  slavery  more 

87 


I 


88 


THE    PRIVATP:    life    of    the    ROMANS 


DEPKNDKNTS:     SLAVES     AND    CLIENTS.        IIOSPITES      89 


than  to  anything  else  that  is  due  the  change  in  the  cliaracter 
of  the  Romans  in  the  first  century  of  the  Empire.  With 
slaves  swarming  in  their  houses,  ministering  to  their  luxury, 
pandering  to  their  appetites,  directing  their  amusements, 
managing  their  business,  and  even  educating  their  cliiklreu, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  the  old  lioman  virtues  of  simplicity, 
frugality,  and  temperance  declined  and  perished.  And  with 
the  passing  of  Roman  manhood  into  oriental  effeminacy 
began  the  passing  of  Ronum  sway  over  the  civilized  world. 

131  Numbers  of  Slaves. — AVe  have  almost  no  testimony  as  to 
the  number  of  slaves  in  Italy,  none  even  as  to  the  ratio  of 
the  free  to  the  servile  popuhition.  AVe  have  indirect  evi- 
dence enough,  however,  to  nuike  good  the  statements  in  the 
preceding  paragraphs.  That  slaves  were  few  in  early  times 
is  shown  by  their  names  (§58):  if  it  had  been  usual  for  a 
master  to  have  more  than  one  slave,  such  names  as  Mdrclpor, 
and  Olipor  would  not  have  sufficed  to  distinguish  them. 
An  idea  of  the  rapid  increase  after  tlie  Punic  wars  may  be 
gained  from  the  number  of  captives  sold  into  slavery  by  suc- 
cessful generals.  Scipio  Aemilianus  is  said  to  have  disposed 
in  this  way  of  GO, 000  Carthaginians,  Marius  of  140,000 
Cimbri,  Aemilius  Paulus  of  150,000  Greeks,  Pompeius  and 
Caesar  together  of  more  than  a  million  of  Asiatics  and  Gauls. 

132  The  very  insurrections  of  the  slaves,  unsuccessful  as  they 
always  were,  also  testify  to  their  overwhelming  numbers. 
Of  the  two  in  Sicily,  the  first  lasted  from  lo-l  to  132  B.C., 
and  the  second  from  102  to  98;  the  last  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  at  the  close  of  the  first  the  consul  Rupilius  had  crucified 
20,000,  whom  he  had  taken  alive,  as  a  warning  to  others  to 
submit  in  silence  to  their  servitude.  Spartacus  defied  the 
armies  of  Rome  for  two  years,  and  in  the  decisive  battle  witli 
Crassus  (71  h.r.)  left  r,0,000  dead  upon  the  field.  Cicero's 
orations  against  Catiline  show  clearly  that  it  was  the  calling 
out  of  the  hordes  of  slaves  by  the  conspirators  that  was 
most  dreaded  in  the  citv. 


Of  the  num])er  uiuler  the  Empire  we  may  get  some  idea  133 
from  more  direct  testimony.  Horace  tells  us  that  ten  slaves 
were  as  few  as  a  gentleman  in  even  moderate  circumstances 
conld  afford  to  own.  He  himself  had  two  in  town  and  eight  on 
his  little  Sabine  farm,  and  he  was  a  poor  man  and  his 
father  had  been  a  slave.  Tacitus  tells  us  of  a  city  prefect 
who  had  four  hundred  slaves  in  his  mansion.  Pliny  siiys 
that  one  trains  Caecilius  Claudius  Isodorus  left  at  his  death 
over  four  thousand  slaves.  Athenaeus  (iro-2:3()  a.d.)  gives 
us  to  understand  that  individuals  owned  as  many  as  ten 
thousand  and  twenty  thousand.  The  fact  that  house  slaves 
were  commonly  divided  into  "groups  of  ten^'  (dcniriae) 
points  in  the  same  direction. 

Sources  of  Supply.— Under  the  Republic  the  largest  134 
number  of  slaves  brought  to  Rome  and  offered  there  for  sale 
were  captives  taken  in  war,  and  an  idea  of  the  magnitude  of 
this  source  of  supply  has  already  been  given  (glol).  The 
captives  were  sold  as  soon  as  possible  after  they  were  taken, 
in  order  that  the  general  might  ])e  relieved  of  the  trou])le 
and  risk  of  feeding  and  guarding  such  large  numbers  of  men 
in  a  hostile  country.  The  sale  was  conducted  by  a  (juaestor, 
and  the  purchasers  were  the  wholesale  slave  dealers  that 
always  followed  an  army  along  with  other  traders  and  i)ed- 
dlers.  The  spear  {hastn),  which  was  always  the  sign  of  a 
sale  conducted  under  public  authority,  was  set  up  in  the 
ground  to  mark  the  place,  and  the  captives  had  garlands  on 
their  heads  as  did  the  victims  offered  in  sacrifice,  llenee 
the  expression  suh  hash!  and  sub  cord  ad  centre  came  to 
have  practically  the  same  meaning. 

The  wholesale  dealers  {man(/dnes)  assembled  their  pur- 135 
chases  in  convenient  depots,  and  when  sufficient  numbers 
had  been  collected  marched  them  to  Rome,  in  chains  and 
under  guard,  to  be  sold  to  local  dealers  or  to  private  indi- 
viduals. 4Mie  slaves  obtained  in  this  way  were  usually  men 
and   likelv  to   be  phvsieallv  sound  and  strong  for  the  simple 


I 


90 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


reason  that  they  had  been  soldiers.  On  the  other  hand  they 
were  likely  to  prove  intractable  and  ungovernable,  and  many 
l)referred  even  suicide  to  servitude.  It  sometimes  haj)- 
pened,  of  course,  that  the  inhabitants  of  towns  and  whole 
districts  were  sold  into  slavery  without  distinction  of  age 
or  sex. 

136  Under  the  Empire  large  numbers  came  to  Rome  as 
articles  of  ordinary  commerce,  and  Rome  became  one  of  the 
great  slave  marts  of  the  world.  The  slaves  were  brought 
from  all  tlie  provinces  of  the  Empire:  blacks  from  Egypt; 
swift  runners  from  Numidia;  grammarians  from  Alexandria; 
from  Cyrene  those  who  made  the  best  house  servants;  from 
Greece  handsome  boys  and  girls,  and  well-trained  scribes, 
accountants,  amanuenses,  aiul  even  teachers;  from  P'pirus 
and  lllyria  experienced  shepherds;  from  Cappadocia  the 
most  patient  and  enduring  laborers. 

137  Some  of  these  were  captives  taken  in  the  petty  wars  that 
Rome  was  always  waging  in  defense  of  her  boundaries,  but 
these  were  numerically  insignificant.  Others  had  been 
slaves  in  the  countries  from  which  they  came,  and  merely 
exchanged  old  masters  for  new  when  they  were  sent  to 
Rome.  Others  still  were  the  victims  of  slave  hunters,  who 
preyed  on  weak  and  defenseless  peoples  two  thousand  years 
ago  much  as  they  are  said  to  do  in  Africa  in  our  own  time. 
These  man-hunts  were  not  prevented,  though  perhaps  not 
openly  counteuaiiced,  by  the  Roman  governors. 

138  A  less  imj)ortant  source  of  supi)ly  was  the  natural 
increase  in  the  slave  population  as  men  and  women  formed 
permanent  connections  with  each  other,  called  contubernia. 
This  became  of  general  importance  only  late  in  the  i]mpire, 
because  in  earlier  times,  especially  during  the  period  of  con- 
quest, it  was  found  cheaper  to  l)uy  than  to  breed  slaves.  To 
the  individual  owner,  however,  the  increase  in  his  slaves  in 
this  way  was  a  matter  of  as  much  interest  as  the  increase  of 
his  flocks  and  herds.     Such  slaves  would  be  more  valuable  at 


DEPENDENTS  :     SLAVES    AND  CLIENTS.       IIOSPITES      91 


<V,r^ 


maturity,  for  they  would  be  acclimated  and  less  liable  to 
disease,  and  besides  would  be  trained  from  childhood  in  the 
performance  of  the  very  tasks  for  which  they  were  destined. 
Thev  would  also  have  more  love  for  their  home  and  for  their 
master's  family,  for  hischildren  Avere  often  their  playmates. 
It  was  only  natural,  therefore,  for  slaves  born  in  i\\Q  famiJia 
to  have  a  claim  upon  their  master's  confidence  and  consid- 
eration that  others  lacked,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  they 
were  prover])ially  pert  and  forward.  They  were  called  vernaG 
as  long  as  they  remained  the  property  of  their  first  master. 
The  derivation  of  the  word  is  not  certain,  but  it  is  probable 
that  it  has  the  same  origin  as  Vesta  and  means  something 
like  "born  in  the  house." 

Sales  of  Slaves. — Slave  dealers  usually  offered  their  wares  139 
at  public  auction  sales  (Fig.  21)).  These  were  under  the 
supervision  of  the 
aediles,  w  h  o  a  p-. 
pointed  the  place 
and  made  rules  and 
regulations  to  gov- 
ern them,  A  tax 
was  imi)Osed  on  im- 
ported slaves  and 
they  Avere  offered 
for  sale  with  their 
feet  Avhitened  with 
chalk;  those  from 
the   east    had    also 

their  ears  bored,  a  common  sign  of  slavery  among  oriental 
peoples.  As  bids  w^ere  asked  for  each  slave  he  was  made 
to  mount  a  stone  or  platt'orni,  corresponding  to  the 
'M)lock"  familiar  to  the  readers  of  our  own  history.  Trom 
his  neck  hung  a  scroll  {lifuJus),  setting  forth  his  charac- 
ter and  serving  as  a  warrant  for  the  purchaser.  If  the  slave 
had  defects  not  made  known  in  this  warrant  the  veiulor  was 


Fkuirk  21).    Saj.k  of  a  Slavk 


92 


THE    TKIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


bound  to  take  him  l)ack  within  six  months  or  make  good  the 
loss  to  the  buyer.  The  chief  items  ifi  the  titulut>  were  the 
age  and  nationality  of  the  slave,  and  his  freedom  from  such 
common  defects  as  chronic  ill-health,  especially  epilej)sy, 
and  tendencies  to  thievery,  running  away,  and  suicide.  In 
spite  of  the  guarantee  the  purchaser  took  care  to  examine 
the  slaves  as  closelv  as  ])ossible.  For  this  reason  thev  were 
commonly  stripped,  made  to  move  around,  handled  freely 
by  the  purchaser,  and  even  examined  by  physicians.  If  no 
Avarrant  was  given  by  the  dealer,  a  cap  {j^lUeu,^)  was  put  on 
the  slave's  head  at  the  time  of  the  sale  and  the  purchaser 
took  all  risks.  The  dealer  might  also  offer  the  slaves  at 
l)rivate  sale,  and  this  was  the  rule  in  the  case  of  all  of 
unusual  value  ami  especially  of  nnirked  personal  beauty. 
These  were  not  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  the  crowd,  but  were 
offered jL()  those  only  wlio  were  likely  to  purchase.  Private 
sales  and  exchanges  between  citizens  witliout  the  interven- 
tion of  a  regular  dealer  were  as  common  as  the  sales  of  other 
l)roperty,  and  no  stigma  was  attached  to  them.  The  trade 
of  the  mdufjones^  on  the  other  hand,  was  looked  upon  as 
utterly  disreputable,  l)ut  it  w^as  very  lucrative  ami  great 
fortunes  were  often  made  in  it.  Vilest  of  all  the  dealers 
were  the  lenones^  who  kept  and  sold  slaves  for  immoral 
{)urposts  oidy. 
140  Prices  of  Slaves.— The  prices  of  slaves  varied  as  did  the 
prices  of  other  commodities.  Much  depemled  upon  tlie 
times,  the  supply  and  demand,  the  characteristics  ami  accom- 
plishments of  the  particular  slave,  and  the  requirements 
of  the  purchaser.  Captives  bought  upon  the  battlefield 
larely  brought  more  than  nominal  prices,  because  the  sale 
was  in  a  nunisure  forced  (^I-U),  and  because  the  dealer  was 
sure  to  lose  a  large  part  of  his  purchase  on  thc^  long  marcli 
h.ome  through  disease,  fatigue,  and  espcciallv  suicide.  There 
is  a  famous  piece  of  statuary  representing  a  hopeless  (iaul 
killing  his   wife  and   then    himself  (  Kig.  :5()j.      Wo  are  told 


dependents:   slaves  and  clients.      HOSPTTES    93 


that    LncuUus   (nice   sold   slaves   in  his  camp  at   :ni  average 
])rice  of  eighty  cents  each.      In  Kome  male  slaves  \aried  in 
value  froui  61<H),  paid   for  common    laborers   in   the  time  of 
Horace,  to  «^28,000 
paid  b  y    ^I  a  r  c  u  s 
Scaurus  for  an  ac- 
complished    gram- 
nnirian.    Handsome 
boys,    well    trained 
and  educated,  sold 
for     as     much     as 
*4,0()().     Very  high 
prices  were  also  paid 
for   handsome    and 
accomplished  girls. 
The  music  girls   in 
Plautus    and     Ter- 
ence  cost    their 
lovers  from  $500  to 
$T(Hi,  but   girls    of 
the  lowest  class  sold 
for  as  little  as  *25. 
It  seems  strange  to 
us  that  slaves  were 
matched  in  size  and 

color  as  carefully  as  horses  are  now,  and  that  a  well- 
matched  pair  of  boys  would  bring  a  much  larger  sum  when 
sold  together  than  when  sold  separately. 

Public  and  Private  Slaves.-Slaves  were  called  sorrlx^l 
piihUrl  and  scrrl  privdtl  according  as  they  were  owned  ])y 
the  state  or  by  individuals.  The  condition  of  the  former 
was  considered  the  more  desirable:  they  were  not  so  likely 
to  be  sold,  were  not  worked  so  hard,  and  were  not  exposed 
to  the  whims  of  a  capricious  master.  They  were  employed 
to  take  (are  of  the  public   buildings  and   as  servants  of  the 


Fkhkk  :W.     Thk  (Jail  and  His  Wikk 


94 


THE    PRIVATK    LIFE    OF    THE    RONfAXS 


■DEPEXBENTS  :     SLAVES    AXD    CLTEXTS.       HOSPTTES      95 


magistrates  and    priesfs.     'I'lie    (juaostors   and   aediles   had 
great    iiuiiibers    of   them    in    their   service,  and    they    were 
drilled  as  a  corps  of   firemen  to  serve  at  night  under  the 
triumn'rl  nocturnl.     Others  were  employed  as  lietors,  jail- 
ers, executioners,  etc.     Tlie  number  of  public  slaves  'while 
considerable  in  itself  was  inconsiderable  as  comiiared  with 
that  of  those  in  private  service. 
142       Private  Slaves.— Private  slaves  either  were  employed  in 
the  personal  service  of  their  master  and  his  family  or  were 
kept  for  gain.     The  former,  known  as  the  fionilia  urhfnm, 
will  be  described  later.     Tlie  latter  may  be  classified  accord- 
ing as  they  were  kept  for  liire  or  emploved  in  the  business 
ejiterprises  of  their  master.     Of  these  last  the   most  impor- 
tant as  well  as  the  oldest  (§120)  class  was  that  of  the  farm 
laborers   [fumilia  rasfica).     Of  the  others,  engaged  in  ail 
sorts  of  industries,  it  may  be  remarked  that  it  was  considered 
more  honorable  for  a  master  to  employ  his  slaves  in  enter- 
prises of  his  own  than  to  hire  them  out  to  others.     At  tho 
same  time  slaves  could  always  be  hired  for  any  desired  pur- 
l)ose  in  Iiome  or  uiiv  other  citv. 
143        Industrial  Employment.— It   nmst  be   remembered   that 
there  were  practically  no  freeborn  laborers  left  in  tlie  last 
century  of  the  Republic  (iW.)),  and  tliat  much  work  was 
then  done  by  hand  that  is    now    done  by   machinery.     In 
work  of  this  sort  were  emidoyed  armies  of'  slaves  fit  oiily  for 
unskilled  lal)or:  porters  for  tlie  transportation  of  materials 
and  merchandise,  stevedores  for  the  lading  and  discharging 
of  vessels,  men  who  handled  the  spade,  pickax,  and  crow-- 
bar, men  of  great  physical  strength  but  of  little  else  to  make 
them     worth     their    keep.      Above    these    came    artisans, 
mechamcs,   and    skilled   workmen  of   everv   kind:    smiths, 
carpenters,   bricklayers,    masons,    seamen, 'etc.     The    mer- 
chants and  shopkeepers  required  assistants,  and   so  did  the 
millers  and  bakers,    the  dealers  in   wool    and    leather,    the 
keepers  of  lodging  houses  and   restaurants,  all  who  helped 


1 


to  supply  the  countless  wants  of  a  great  city.  Even  the 
professions,  as  we  should  call  them,  were  largely  in  the 
hands  of  slaves.  Books  were  multiplied  by  slaves.  The 
artists  who  carved  wood  and  stone,  designed  furniture,  laid 
mosaics,  painted  pictures,  and  decorated  the  walls  and 
ceilings  of  public  and  private  buildings  were  slaves.  8o 
were  the  musicians  and  the  acrobats,  actors  and  gladiators 
who  amused  the  people  at  the  public  games.  So  too,  as  we 
have  .seen  (§121),  were  many  of  the  teachers  in  the  scliools, 
and  physicians  were  usually  slaves. 

And  slaves  did  not  merely  perform  these  various  fiinc- 144 
tions  under  the  direction  of  their  master  or  of  the  employer 
to  whom  he  had  hired  them  for  the  time,  ^fany  of  them 
were  themselves  captains  of  industry.  "Wlien  a  slave  showed 
executive  abilitv  as  well  as  technical  knowledge,  it  was  com- 
moil  eiioui^^h  for  liis  master  to  furnish  him  with  the  necessary 
capital  to  carry  on  independently  the  business  or  profession 
which  he  understood.  In  this  way  slaves  were  often  the 
managers  of  estates,  of  banks,  of  commercial  enterprises, 
though  these  might  take  them  far  beyond  the  reacli  of  their 
masters'  observation,  even  into  foreign  countries.  Some- 
times such  a  slave  was  expected  to  pay  the  master  annually 
a  fixed  sum  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  business;  sometimes 
he  was  allowed  to  keep  for  himself  a  certain  share  of  tlie 
profits;  sometimes  he  was  merely  required  to  repay  the  sum 
advanced  with  interest  from  the  time  he  had  received  it. 
In  all  cases,  however,  his  industry  and  intelligence  were 
stimulated  by  the  hope  of  acquiring  sufficient  means  from 
the  venture  to  purchase  his  freedom  and  eventually  nnike 
the  business  his  own. 

The  Familia  Rustica.— Under  this  name   are  comj^rised  145 
the  slaves  that   were   employed   upon   the  vast  estates  that 
long  before   the   end   of   the   Republic  had   supplanted  the 
small  farms  of  the  earlier  dav.     The  very  name  points  at 
this  change,  for  it  implies  that  the  estate  was  no  longer  the 


96 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


PEPEM)i:XTS  :     SI.. WES    AM)  CIJENTS.       IIOSPTTES       07 


only  liome  of  tlic  inastor.  He  IukI  ber-oRie  a  laiidloi'd,  living 
in  the  CtipiUii  ami  visiting  his  Jaiids  only  occasioJially  for 
pleasure  or  for  business.  The  estates  may,  therefore,  be 
divided  into  two  classes:  country  seats  for  pleasure  and 
farms  or  ranches  for  profit.  The  former  were  selected  with 
great  care,  the  purchaser  having  regard  to  tlieir  ])roximity 
to  the  city  or  other  resorts  of  fashion,  their  healthfulness, 
and  the  natural  beautv  of  their  scenerv.  Thev  were  main- 
tained  upon  the  nn)st  extravagant  scale.  'I'here  were  villas 
and  pleasure  grouiuls,  parks,  game  preserves,  tish  ponds  and 
artificial  lakes,  everytliing  that  ministered  to  o})en  air 
luxury,  (ireat  numbers  of  slaves  were  required  to  keep 
these  places  in  order,  and  numy  of  them  were  slaves  of  the 
highest  class:  landscape  gardeners,  experts  in  the  culture  of 
fruits  and  flowers,  experts  even  in  the  breeding  and  keeping 
of  the  birds,  game,  and  fish,  of  wdiich  the  liomans  were  inor- 
dimitelv  fond.  These  had  umlei-  them  assistants  and  laborers 
of  every  sort,  and  all  were  subject  to  the  authority  of  a 
superintendent  or  steward  (rlJirHs)^  who  had  been  put  in 
charge  of  the  estate  bv  the  master. 
146  Farm  Slaves.  —  But  the  name  fiainUa  rustics  is  more 
characteristically  used  of  the  drudges  upon  the  farms, 
l)e(^:iuse  the  slaves  employed  upon  the  country  seats  w^ere  more 
directly  in  the  personal  service  of  the  nuister  and  can  hardly 
be  said  to  have  been  kept  for  profit.  The  raising  of  grain 
for  the  market  had  long  ceased  to  be  protitable,  but  various 
industries  had  taken  its  place  upon  the  farms.  Wine  and 
oil  had  become  the  most  important  products  of  the  soil,  and 
vineyards  and  olive  orchards  were  found  wherever  climate 
and  other  conditions  w^ere  favorable.  Cattle  and  swine  were 
raised  in  countless  numbers,  the  former  more  for  draft  pur- 
poses and  the  products  of  the  dairy  than  lor  beef.  Sheep 
were  kept  for  the  wool,  and  woolen  2:arments  w^ere  worn  bv 
the  rich  and  poor  alike.  Cheese  was  made  in  large  quanti- 
ties, all  the  larger  because  butter  was  unknown.     The  keep- 


'^C  ' 


ing  of  bees  was  an  im])oriant  industry,  because  honey  served, 
so  far  as  it  could,  the  purposes  for  which  sugar  is  usihI  in 
modern  times.  Besides  these  things  that  we  are  even  now 
accustomed  to  associate  with  farming,  there  were  others 
that  are  now  looked  upon  as  distinct  and  separate  busi- 
iu\sses.  Of  these  the  most  important,  perhaps,  as  it  Avas 
undoubtedly  the  most  laborious,  was  the  quarrying  of  stone; 
another  was  the  cutting  of  timber  and  working  it  up  into 
rougli  lumljer,  and  tinally  tlie  })reparing  of  sand  for  the  use 
of  the  builder.  This  last  was  of  much  greater  importance 
relativelv  then  than  now,  on  account  of  the  extensive  use  of 
concrete  at  T?ome. 

In  some  of  these  tasks  intelligence  and  skill  were  required  147 
as  thev  are  to-dav,  but  in  manv  of  them  the  most  necessary 
(jualifications  were  strength  and  endurance,  as  the  slaves 
took  the  place  of  much  of  the  machinery  of  modern  times. 
This  was  especially  true  of  the  men  employed  in  the  quar- 
ries, who  were  usually  of  the  rudest  and  most  ungovernable 
class,  and  were  worked  in  chains  bv  dav  and  housed  in  dun- 
geons  by  night,  as  convicts  have  been  housed  and  worked  in 
much  later  times. 

The  Vilicus.  The  nuinasfement  of  such  an  estate  was  148 
also  intrusted  to  a  rllicNs  (§145),  who  w^as  proverbially  a 
hard  tasknnister,  simply  because  his  hopes  of  freedom 
(lepeiuhMl  upon  the  amount  of  prolits  he  could  turn  into  his 
master's  coffers  at  the  end  of  the  vear.  Ilis  task  was  no 
easy  one.  Ik'sides  phnming  for  and  overseeing  the  gangs  of 
slaves  already  mentioned,  he  had  under  his  charge  another 
V*o(ly  of  shives  only  less  luimerous,  employed  in  providing 
for  the  wants  of  the  o.'^hers.  Everything  necessary  for  the 
farm  was  produced  or  manufactured  on  the  farm.  Eiu)ugh 
grain  was  raised  for  io'Xl,  and  this  grain  was  ground  in  the 
farm  mills  and  baked  in  the  farm  ovens  bv  millers  and 
bakers  who  were  slaves  on  the  farm.  The  task  of  turning 
the  mill  was  usually  given  to  a  horse  or  mule,  but  slaves 


98 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE     RO.NfANS 


DEPENDENTS  :    SLAVES    AND    CLIENTS.       llOSPITES       00 


were  often  iiiado  to  do  the  grinding  as  ti  punishment.  Wool 
was  carded,  spnn,  and  woven  into  cloth,  and  this  cloth  was 
made  into  clothes  by  the  female  slaves  nnder  the  eye  of  tlic 
steward's  consort,  the  r'lUra.  Buildings  were  erected,  and 
the  tools  and  implements  necessary  for  the  work  of  the  farm 
were  made  and  repaired.  These  things  required  a  nnmhci* 
of  carpenters,  smiths,  and  nnisons,  though  they  were  not 
necessarily  workmen  of  the  liidiest  class.  It  was  the  touch- 
stone  of  a  good  rlJicus  to  keep  his  men  always  busy,  and  it 
is  to  be  understood  that  the  slaves  were  alternately  plow- 
men and  reapers,  vinedressers  and  treaders  of  the  grapes, 
perhaps  even  quarrymen  and  luml)ermen,  according  to  the 
season  of  the  year  and  the  place  of  their  toiling. 

149  The  Familia  TIrbana. — The  number  of  slaves  kept  by  the 
wealthy  Roman  in  his  city  mansion  was  measured  not  by  his 
needs,  but  by  the  demands  of  fashion  and  his  means.  In 
the  early  days  a  sort  of  butler  {(Itriensis)^  or  major  domo, 
had  relieved  the  master  of  his  household  cares,  had  done 
the  buying,  had  kept  the  accounts,  had  seen  that  the  house 
and  furniture  were  in  order,  and  had  looked  after  the  few 
servants  who  did  the  actual  work.  Even  under  the  rjepublic 
all  this  was  changed.  Other  slaves,  the  inornrdtor  and  ^//.v- 
flnsdtor^  relieved  the  dtriensis  of  the  purchasing  of  the  sup- 
plies and  the  keeping  of  the  accounts,  and  left  to  him 
merely  the  supervision  of  the  house  and  its  furniture.  The 
duties  of  the  slaves  under  him  were,  in  the  same  wav,  dis- 
tributed  among  a  number  many  times  greater.  Every  part  of 
the  house  had  its  special  staff  of  servants,  often  so  numerous 
as  to  be  distributed  into  decuriae(^V?>?^j,  with  a  separate  super- 
intendent for  each  division:  one  for  the  kitchen,  another 
for  the  dining-rooms,  another  for  the  bedrooms,  etc. 

150  The  very  entrance  door  had  assigned  to  it  its  special 
slave  {osfidrius  or  idnUar),  who  was  often  chained  to  it 
like  a  watchdog,  in  order  to  keep  him  literally  at  his  post. 
And  the  duties  of  the  several  sets  were  again  divided  and 


subdivided,  each  slave  having  some  one  ofTict^  to  p(M*form,  and 
onlv  one.  Tlie  names  oi'  the  vai'ious  functionaries  of  the 
kitchen,  the  dining-rooms,  and  the  bedchambers  are  too 
numerous  to  mention,  but  an  idea  of  the  complexity  of  the 
service  may  be  gained  from  the  number  of  attendants  that 
assisted  the  master  and  mistress  with  their  toilets.  The 
former  liad  his  hrndfov^  tonsor^  and  cdlccdior  (who  cared  for 
the  feet) ;  the  latter  her  hairdressers  {cinlflones  or  cincrdril) 
and  oriidlnx\  and  l/csides  these  each  liad  no  less  than  tliree 
oi-  four  more  to  assist  with  the  bath.  The  children,  too, 
had  each  his  or  her  own  attendants,  beginning  with  the 
7/ /?//*/>,  and  continuing  in  the  case  of  the  boy  with  the 
IHiedaijniJd^  i\M^  pcdisvinu  (^WX), 

AVhen  the  master  or  mistress  left  the  house  a  numerous  151 
retinue  was  deemed  necessary.  If  they  walked,  slaves  went 
before  to  clear  the  way  {anteainhiddiies)^  and  pages  and 
la(d\eys  followed  carrying  wraps  or  tlie  sunshade  and  fan  of 
the  mistress,  and  ready  to  perform  any  little  service  that 
might  be  necessary.  The  master  was  always  accompanied 
out  of  the  house  by  his  iidmencldtor^  who  prompted  him  in 
case  he  had  forgotten  the  name 
of  any  one  who  greeted  him. 
If  they  did  not  walk,  they  were 
carried  in  litters  {Ice  11  cue ^  Fig. 
31),  something  like  sedan 
chairs.  The  bearers  were 
strong  men,  by  preference 
Syrians  or  C  a  p  p  a  d  o  c  i  a  n  s 
(§130),  all  carefully  matched 
in  size  (§14(0   '^^^^^  dressed  in 

gorgeous  liveries.  As  each  member  of  the  household  had 
his  own  litter  and  bearers,  this  one  class  of  slaves  made  an 
important  item  in  the  family  budget.  And  even  Avhen  they 
rode  in  this  wav  the  same  attendants  accompanied  them  as 
when  they  walked. 


FiQiTRK  ;^i 


<t 


100 


THK    TKIVATJO    LIFE    OF    TIIF     ROMANS 


DKPEXDEXTS  :    SLAVES    AND    CLIENTS.       HOSPITES    101 


152  When  tlio  masiei-  dined  at  the  house  of  a  friend  his  shives 
attended  liirn  as  far  as  the  door  at  least.  Some  remained 
with  him  to  eai'o  for  liis  sandals,  and  others  {(((lcn\sitorcs) 
returned  at  the  appointed  hour  to  see  liim  home.  A  jour- 
ney  out  of  the  city  was  a  more  serious  matter  and  called  for 
more  pomp  and  display.  In  addition  to  the  horses  and 
mules  that  drew  the  carts  of  those  wlio  rode,  there  were 
mounted  outriders  and  beasts  of  burden  loaded  witli  bag- 
gage  and  supplies.  Xumerous  slaves  followed  on  foot,  and 
a  band  of  gladiators  not  infrequently  acted  as  escort  and 
bodyguard.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  ordinary  train 
of  a  wealthy  traveler  included  scores,  perhaps  hundreds,  of 
sliives. 

153  Among  the  fa ?)}  ilia  nrldna  must  be  numbered  also  those 
who  furnished  amusement  and  entertainment  for  the  master 
and  his  guests,  especially  during  and  after  meals.  There  were 
musicians  and  readers,  and  for  persons  of  less  refined  tastes, 
dancers,  jesters,  dwarfs,  and  even  misshapen  freaks.  Under 
the  Empire  little  children  were  kept  for  the  same  purpose. 

154  Lastly  may  be  mentioned  the  slaves  of  the  highest  class, 
the  confidential  assistants  of  ilie  master,  the  amanuenses 
who  wrote  his  letters,  the  secretaries  who  kept  his  accounts, 
and  the  agents  through  whom  he  collected  his  income' 
audited  the  reports  of  his  stewards  and  managers,  made  his 
investments,  and  transacted  all  sorts  of  business  matters. 
The  greater  the  luxury  and  extravagaiu^e  of  the  house,  the 
more  the  master  would  need  these  trained  and  (^xi)erie'nced 
men  to  relieve  him  of  cares  which  he  detested,  and  by  their 
fidelity  and  skill  to  make  possible  the  gratification  of  his 
tastes  and  passions. 

155  Such  a  staff  as  has  been  described  belonged,  of  course,  to 
a  wealthy  and  fashionable  man.  Persons  with  more  good 
sense  had  only  such  slaves  as  could  be  profitably  employed. 
Atticus,  the  friend  of  (^Vero,  a  man  of  sufficient  wealth  and 
social  position  to  defy  the  demands  of  fashion,  kept  in  his 


\ 


service  only  vernae  (§138),  and  had  them  so  carefully  trained 
that  the  meanest  could  read  and  write  for  him.  Cicero,  on 
the  other  hand,  could  not  think  it  good  form  to  have  a  slave 
do  more  than  one  kind  of  work,  and  Cicero  was  not  to  be 
considered  a  rich  man. 

Legal  Status  of  Slaves. — The  power  of  the  master  overi56 
the  slave,  called  fJominium  (§')!),  was  absolute.  He  could 
assign  him  the  most  laborious  and  degrading  tasks,  punish 
him  even  unto  death  at  his  sole  discretion,  sell  him,  and  kill 
him  (or  turn  him  out  in  the  street  to  die)  when  age  or  ill- 
ness had  made  him  incapable  of  labor.  Slaves  were  mere 
chattels  in  tlie  eyes  of  the  law,  like  oxen  or  horses.  They 
could  not  hold  property,  they  could  not  make  contracts, 
they  could  testify  in  the  courts  only  on  the  rack,  they  could 
not  marry.  The  free  person  ///  poteddte  was  little  better  off 
legally  (>$'^1)5  hut  there  were  two  important  differences 
between  the  son,  for  exam})le,  and  the  slave.  The  son  was 
relieved  of  i\\Q potedds  on  the  death  of  iho.  pater  famiJids 
(go-i),  but  the  death  of  the  master  did  not  make  the  slave 
free.  Again,  the  condition  of  the  son  was  ameliorated  by 
pii'td,s  (§To)  and  public  opinion  (§§-32,  Bo),  but  there  was 
no  jxietds  for  the  slave  and  })u])lic  opinion  hardly  oper- 
ated in  his  behalf.  It  did  enable  him  to  hold  as  his  own 
his  scanty  savings  (§1^)'2),  and  it  gave  a  sort  of  sanction 
to  the  permanent  unions  of  male  and  female  slaves  called 
rotifabenduia^  but  in  other  respects  it  did  little  for  his 
benefit. 

Under  the  Empire  various  laws  were  passed  that  seemed  157 
to  recognize  the  slave  as  a  person,  not  a  thing:  it  was  forbid- 
den to  sell  him  for  the  purpose  of  fighting  with  wild  beasts 
in  the  amphitheater;  it  was  provided  that  the  slave  should 
not  be  put  to  death  by  the  master  simply  because  he  was  too 
old  or  too  ill  to  work,  and  that  a  slave  ''exposed"  (;<95) 
should  become  free  by  the  act;  at  last  the  master  was  for- 
bidden to  kill  the  slave  at  all  without  due  process  of  law. 


^M 


102 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


'1 

If. 


A.S  a  matter  of  fact  lliese  laws  were  very  generally  disre- 
garded, much  as  arc  our  laws  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty 
to  animals,  and  it  may  be  said  that  it  was  only  the  ijiflnenee 
of  Christianity  that  at  last  changed  the  condition  of  the  slave 
for  the  better. 

158       The  Treatment  of  Slaves.— There  is  nothing  in  the  stern 
and  selfish  character  of  the  Roman  that  would  lead  us  to 
expect  froni  him  gentleness  or  mercy  in  the  treatment  of  his 
slaves.     At  the  same  time  he  was  too  shrewd  and  sharp  in 
all  matters  of  business  to  forgot  that  a  slave  was  a  piece  of 
valuable  property,  aiul  to  run  the  risk  of  the  loss  or  injury 
of  that  property  by  wanton  cruelty.      Mucli  dei)ended',   of 
course,  upon  the    cliaracter  and  temper  of  the  individual 
owner,  and  Juvenal  gives  us  to  understand  that  the  mistress 
was  likely  to  be  more   spiteful  and  unreasonable   than   the 
nuister.      But  the  case  of   ^'edills    WAWo,   in   the  time  of 
Augustus,  who  ordered  a  slave  to  be  throwji  alive  into  a  pond 
as  food  for  the  fish  because  he  had  broken  a  gol)let,  may  bo 
balanced  by  that  of  Cicero,  whose  letters  to  his  slave  Tiro 
disclose  real  affection  and  tenderness  of  feeling.     TJio  pas- 
sionate man  iiowadays  may  kill  or  maim  the  dog  or  horse, 
although  it  has  a  money  value  ami  he  needs  its  services,  and 
most  of  us  know  of  worn-out  horses  turned  out  upon  the 
common  to  die.     But  these  things  are  exceptional,  and  if  we 
consider  the  age  in  which  the  Roman  lived  and  pass  for  a 
moment  the  matter  of  punishments,  we  may  say  tluit  he  was 
rather  piiiless  as  a  taskmaster  than  habitually  cruel  to  his 
slaves. 

159  Of  the  daily  life  of  tlie  town  slave  we  know  but  little 
except  that  his  work  was  light  and  he  was  the  envy  of  the 
drudge  upon  the  farm.  Of  the  treatment  of  tlie  latter  we 
get  some  knowledge  from  tiie  writings  of  the  elder  Cato, 
who  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  rugged  farmer  of 
his  time  (•->:54-14t»  b.c).  He  held  that  slaves  should  ahvavs 
be  at  work  except  in  tiie  hours,  few  enough  at  best,  allowed 


dbpendp:xts  :  slaves  and  cijexts.     hosittes  io3 

them  for  sleep,  and  he  took  pains  to  find  plenty  for  his  to  do 
even  on  the  public  holidays.  lie  advised  farmers  to  sell 
immediately  worn-out  draft  cattle,  diseased  sheep,  broken 
implements,    aged    and   feeble    slaves,    "and   other   useless 

things." 

Food  and  Dress. — Slaves  were  fed  on  coarse  food,  but  160 
when  Cato  tells  us  that  in  addition  to  the  moutlily  allowance 
of  grain  (about  a  bushel)  they  were  to  have  merely  the  fallen 
olives,  or,  failing  these,  a  little  salt  fish  and  vinegar,  we 
must  remember  that  this  was  no  less  and  no  worse  tliau  the 
commo!!  food  of  the  poorer  Romans.  Every  sclioolboy 
knows  that  grain  was  the  only  ration  of  the  sturdy  soldiers 
that  won  Caesar's  battles  for  him.  A  slave  was  furnished  a 
tunic  every  year,  and  a  cloak  and  a  pair  of  wooden  shoes 
every  two  years.  Worn-out  clothes  were  returned  to  the 
fllicus  to  be  made  up  into  patchwork  ([uilts.  We  are  told 
that  this  same  nJlnis  often  cheated  tlie  slaves  by  stinting 
their  allowance  for  his  own  1)enefit,  and  we  can  not  doubt 
that  he,  a  slave  himself,  was  more  likely  to  l)e  brutal  and 
cruel  than  the  master  would  have  been. 

But  entirely  apart  from  the  grinding  toil  and  the  harsh- 161 
■  ness  and  insolence  of  the  master  and  the  overseer,  the  mere 
restraint  from  liberty  was  torture  enough  in  itself.     There 
was  little  chance  of  escape  by  fiight.     The  (ireek  slave  miglit 
hope  to  cross  the  boundary  of  the  little  principality  in  wlucli 
he  served,  to  find  freedom  and  refuge  under  the  protection  of 
an  adjoining  power.     But  Italy  was  not  cut  up  into  hostde 
.•ommunities,  and  should  the  slave  by  a  miracle  reacii  the 
Rubicon  or  the  sea,  no  neighboring  state  wotild  dare  defend 
liim   or   even   iiide    him   from    his   Roman    master.       If   he 
attempted  fiight,  be  must  live  the  life  of  an  outlaw,  with 
organized  binds  of  slave  hunters  on  his  track,  with  a  reward 
offered    for  his  return,  and  unspeakable  tortures  awaiting 
him  as    a    warning    for    others.      It    is    no  wonder,    then, 
that  vast  numbers  of   slaves  sought  rest  from  their  labors 


a 


104- 


THK    I'RIVATE    LIFK    ,,|.-    t„k    liOMAXS 


by  a  volu„t.ry  death  (SU..).  It  must  he  reme.nbered 
that  many  of  them  were  m.u  of  ^oad  birth  and  high  posi- 
tion in  the  countries  from   which  tliey  came,  some  of  them 

their  tmir'*  "' "''  ''''*^  "^  ^""'^   ''''^   '''''^'''''  '^^ 

1S2        The  Peculium.-We  have  seen  tliat  the  free  man  iu  pot.s- 

M>'  cou  d  not  legally  hold  property,  that  all  that  he  acquired 

.ecu  that  he  was  allowed  to  hold,  manage  and  use  property 

^Lr    /!,"^'  '"'"  ''"'^°  "'^'^  ^'•"•^  i'^  the  case  of  a 

s  a.c   and  the  property  was  calK-l  hy  the  sa.ne  name  (  .rrn- 
^nn.).      i[,s  e  H.m  to  it  cuid  not  he  maintained  hv  law   but 
was  confirmed  hy  p„h,i.  .pi,..,.  „„  ,,,,,,,,„,  .^jj^ 
If  the   master   respected   these,  there  were  several   wavs  in 
which  an  industrious  and  frugal  slave  could  scrape  together 
■by  1.    a  httle  fund  of  his  own,  depending  in  greatlt 
no  of  course,  upon  the  generosity  of  his  master  ami  his  own 
l)osition  ui  the  f(oni/in. 
163        If  be  ,,elonged   to  the  /«,.///.  rils/fr,,  die  opi-ortuuities 
were  not  so  good,   hat  hy  stinting   himself  he\night     a  ^ 
omethmg  from  his  im.nthly  allowance  of  food  (§u;o)    and 

.tnls  ot  garden  tor  his  own  benefit.     If  he  were  a  city    lave 
ere  were  besules  these  chances  the  tips  from  his  master' 
fueu.l,  .„d  guests,  and  perhap.  a  bribe  for  some  little  piece 
knavery  or  a  reward  for  its  success.      We  have  already'^, 
hat  a,  .slave  teacher  received  preseuts  from  his  pupils  (.!•>,) 

It  was  no  uncommon  thino-  eitlier    -.^  h-,  ■  k1         -i^ 
shr»w,i  ..,    .  .       •"   ^'^"'^''  '^*  '"i^  been  said,  for  a 

shunvd   master   to  teach   a  slave  a  trade  and   allow  him   to 

ep  a  po,.t,..,.  of  the  inereased  earnings  which  his  deftue.s 
.  H        ,11  would  bring.      More  rarely  the  master  would   f.n- 
u  h    he  capital  and  allow  the  slave  to  start  in  bnsine.ss  ami 
retain  a  portion  of  tlu'  profits  (^141). 


DKPENDKXTS  :    SLWKS    ANM)    CLIENTS.        IIOSPITES    105 


For  the  master  the  custom  was  undoubtedly  profitable  in  164 
the  long  run.     It  stimulated  the  slave's  energy  and   made 
him  more   contented   and    cheerful.      It   also    furnislied    a 
means  of  control  more  effective  than  the  severest   corporal 
punishment,  and  that  without  physical  injury  to  the  chat- 
tel.    To  the  am])itious  slave  the  peciVlitni  gave  at  least  a 
chance  of  freedom,  for  he  hoped  to  save  enou^^h  in  time  to 
buy  himself  from  his  master.     Many,  of  course,  preferred  to 
use  their  eariiings  to  purchase  little  comforts  and  luxuries 
ne.irer  than  distant  liberty.     Some  npon  whom  a  high  price 
was  set  bv  their  owners  used  their  penVitdn  to  buy  for  them- 
selves  cheaper  slaves,  whom  they  hired  out  to  the  employers 
of  laborers   already   mentioned   (§143).      In   this   way  they 
hoped  to  increase  their  savings  more  rapidly.      The  slave's 
slave  was  called  rirdrius,  and  legally  belotiged  to  the  owner      i 
of  liis  master,  but  public  opinion  regarded  him  as  a  part  of      * 
the  slave-master's  ])rnVluin.     The  slave  had  a  life  interest 
only  in  his  savings,  that  is,  they  did  not  pass  to  his  heirs  on 
his  death,  for  a  slave  could  have  no  "heirs,"  and  he  couhl 
not  dispose  of  them  by  will.      If  he  died  in  shivery  his  prop- 
erty went  to  his  master.      Pu])lic  slaves  (gUl)  were  allowed 
as  one  of  their  greatest  privileges  to  dispose  of  one-half  of 

their  property  by  will. 

At  the  best  the  accumulation  of  a  sum  large  enough  165 
(;<14o)  to  buy  his  liberty  was  pitifully  slow  and  painful  for 
the  slave,  all  the  more  because  the  more  energetic  and 
industrious  he  was,  the  higher  the  price  that  would  be  set 
upon  him.  We  can  not  help  feeling  a  great  respect  for  the 
man  who  at  so  great  a  price  obtained  his  freedom.  We  can 
sympathize,  too,  with  the  poor  fellows  who  had  to  take  from 
their  little  hoards  to  make  to  the  members  of  their  masters' 
families  the  presents  that  were  expected  on  such  great  occa- 
sions as  the  marriage  of  one  of  them,  i\\e  naming  of  a  child 
(;J1»S),  or  the  birthday  of  the  mistress  (§'>1). 

Punishments.— Tr  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  foUowing  sec- 166 


104 


TIIK    I'RIVATK    LIFK    OF    TIIK    KOMAXS 


by  a  volut.tary  death  (j^Uo).  It  must  be  remembered 
tliat  many  of  them  were  men  of  good  birth  and  higli  posi- 
tion in  the  countries  from  which  thev  came,  some  of  them 
even  soldiers,  taken  on  the  field  of  battle  with  weapons  in 
their  hands. 

152       The  Peculium.— We  have  seen  that  the  free  man  ia  potrs- 
talr  could  not  legally  hol.l  property,  that  all  that  he  acquired 
belonged  strictly  to  his  pater  fwnUUh  (.§;U.)     We  have  also 
seen  that  he  was  allowed  to  liold,  manage  and  use  property 
assigned  to  him  by  the  pahr  famiUas,  just  as  if  it  had  been 
his  own  (§:}:5).     The  same  thing  was  true  in  the  case  of  a 
slave,  and  tiie  property  was  called  by  the  same  name  {/.rnl- 
hum).      Ills  claim  to  it  culd  not  be  maintained  bv  law   but 
was  confirmed  by  public  opinion  ami  by  inviolal>le  custom. 
It  the   master  rcspecte.l  these,  there  were  several   ways  in 
which  an  industrious  an.l  frugal  slave  could  scrape  together 
bit  by  bit  a  little  fund  of  his  own,  depending  in  great  meis- 
ure,  of  course,  upon  the  generosity  of  his  master  and  his  own 
[•ositiou  in  the  familiK. 

• 

163        If  he  belonged   to  the  fauiiUa  rilstlm,  the  opp.,rtunities 
were  not  so  good,   but  by  stinting   himself  ho   might   save 
something  from  his  monthly  allowance  of  food  (§l(;n)    and 
lie  might,  perliaps,  do  a  little  work  for  himself  in  the  hours 
allowed  for  sleep  and  rest,  tilling,  for  example,  a  few  square 
J-iinls  ot  ganlen  for  his  own  benefit.     If  he  were  a  city  slave 
there  were  besides  these  chances  the  tips  from  his  master's 
Iriends  and  guests,  and  perhap.  a  bribe  for  some  little  ])iece 
of  knavery  or  a  reward  for  its  success.      AVe  have  alreadv  seen 
that  a  slave  teacher  received  presents  from  his  pupils  (Sl->1) 
It  was  no  uiK.ommon  thing  either,  as  has  been  said,' for  a 
shrewd  master   to  teach   a  slave  a  trade  and  allow  him   to 
keep  upon, on  of  the  increased  earnings  which  his  deftness 
Hud  skill  would  bring.      More  rarely  the  master  would  fur- 
nish the  capital  and  allow  the  slave  to  start  in  business  an.l 
retain  a  portion  of  the  in-ofits  (^144). 


DKl»KNDKNTS:    SL.VVES    AND    CLIENTS.        HOSPITKS    105 

For  the  master  the  custom  was  uiuloubtedly  profitable  in  164 
the  long  run.     It  stimulated  the  slave's  euergy  and   made 
him   more   contented    and    cheerful.       It    also    furnished    a 
means  of  control  more  effective  than  the  severest   corporal 
punishment,  and  that  without  physical  injury  to  the  chat- 
tel.    To  the  ambitious  slave  the  j^ecilUuoi  gave  at  least  a 
chance  of  freedom,  for  he  hoped  to  save  enough  in  time  to 
buy  himself  from  his  master.     Many,  of  course,  preferred  to 
use  their  earnings  to  purchase  little  comforts  and  luxuries 
nearer  than  distant  liberty.     Some  Upon  whom  a  high  price 
was  set  by  their  owners  used  their  penlUuin  to  buy  for  them- 
selves cheaper  slaves,  wliom  they  hired  out  to  the  employers 
of  laborers   already   meuLioned   (SU3).      In   this   way  they 
hoped  to  increase  their  savings  more  rapidly.      The  slave's 
slave  was  called  vicdriux,  and  legally  belonged  to  the  owner 
of  his  master,  but  public  opinion  regarded  liini  as  a  part  of 
the  slave-master's  prrfilinin.     The  slave  had  a  life  interest 
only  in  his  savings,  that  is,  they  did  not  pass  to  his  heirs  on 
his  death,  for  a  slave  could  have  no  'Mieirs,"  and  he  could 
not  dispose  of  them  ])y  will.      If  he  died  in  slavery  his  prop- 
erty went  to  his  master.      Public  slaves  (^Ul)  were  allowed 
as  one  of  their  greatest  privileges  to  dispose  of  one-half  of 

their  property  by  will. 

At  the  best  the  accumulation  of  a  sum  large  enough  165 
(§140)  to  buy  his  liberty  was  pitifully  slow  and  i)ainful  for 
the  slave,  all  the  more  because  the  more  energetic  and 
industrious  he  was,  the  higher  the  price  that  would  be  set 
upon  him.  We  can  not  help  feeling  a  great  respect  for  the 
man  who  at  so  great  a  price  obtained  his  freedom.  We  can 
sympathize,  too,  with  the  poor  fellows  who  had  to  take  from 
tiieir  little  hoards  to  make  to  the  members  of  their  masters' 
families  the  presents  that  were  expected  on  such  great  occa- 
sions as  the  marriage  of  one  of  them,  the  naming  of  a  child 
(?^98),  or  the  birthday  of  the  mistress  (§^.»1). 

Punishments.— It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  following  sec- 166 


fji 


106 


T 


TllK    rUlVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


tions  to  catalogue  the  fiendish  tortures  sometimes  inflicted 
upon  slaves  by  their  masters.  They  were  not  very  common 
for  the  reason  suggested  in  §158,  and  were  no  more  charac- 
teristic of  the  ordinary  correction  of  slaves  than  lynching 
and  whitecapping  are  cliaracteristic  of  tlie  administration 
of  justice  in  Georgia  and  Indiana.  Certain  punishments, 
however,  are  so  frequently  mentioned  in  Latin  litera- 
ture, that  a  description  of  them  is  necessary  in  order  that 
the  passages  in  which  they  occur  may  be  understood  by  the 
reader. 

167  The  most  common  punishment  for  neglect  of  duty  or 
petty  misconduct  was  a  beating  witli  a  stick  or  flogging  with 
a  lash.     If  the  picture  of  a  Roman  school  already  referred  to 

(§110)  gives  a  correct  idea  of  the  punisliments 
inflicted  upon  a  schoolboy  with  the  consent  of 
his  ])arents,  we  should  expect  that  of  a  slave  to 
be  as  severe  as  regard  for  his  usefulness  after- 
wards would  permit.  Hence  we  find  that  for 
the  single  rod  or  stick  was  often  substituted  a 
bundle  of  rods,  usually  elm  {uJinl)  correspond- 
ing to  the  birch  of  Englaiul  and  the  hickory  of 
America.  For  the  lash  or  rawhide  {scutica  or 
lonint)  was  often  used  a  sort  of  cat-o'-nine- 
^  ^  tails,  made  of  cords  or  thongs  of  leather. 
AMien  the  offense  was  more  serious,  bits  of  bone 
were  attached  to  this,  aiul  even  metal  buttons, 
to  tear  tlie  flesh,  and  the  instrument  was  called 
iijlagrum  orffagelliuH  (Fig.  32).  It  could  not  have  been  less 
severe  than  the  knout  of  Russia,  and  we  mav  well  believe 
that  slaves  died  beneath  its  blows.  To  render  the  victim 
incapable  of  resistance  he  was  sometimes  drawn  up  to  a  beam 
by  the  arms,  and  weights  were  even  attached  to  his  feet,  so 
that  he  could  not  so  much  as  writhe  under  the  torture. 

168  In  the  comedies  are  many  references  to  these  punishments, 
and  the  slaves  nuike  grim  jests  on  the  rods  and  the  scourge. 


i 


Fkjukk.TJ. 
Flaokli.itm 


DEI'EKDEXTS:    SLAVES    AND    CLLEXTS.       IIOSI'ITES    107 

taunting  each  other  with  the  beatings  they  have  had  or 
deserve  to  have.  Sometimes  the  rods  are  parasites,  who 
shave  close  tlie  person  to  whom  they  attach  themselves; 
sometimes  they  are  pens,  the  back  of  the  culprit  being  the 
copybook ;  sometimes  they  are  catapults,  dealing  darts  and 
death.  Sometimes  the  victim  is  a  bottomless  abyss  of  rods; 
sometimes  he  has  absorbed  so  much  essence  of  elm  that  he 
is  ill  danger  of  himself  becoming  a  tree;  sometimes  he  is  an 
anvil;  sometimes  he  is  a  solid  melting  under  the  blows; 
sometimes  he  is  a  garden  well  watered  by  blows.  Sometimes 
an  entertainment  is  being  prepared  scot-free  for  bis  back; 
and  sometimes  his  back  is  a  beautifully  embroidered  carpet. 

Another  punisliment  for  otf enses  of  the  same  trivial  nature  169 
resembled    the    stocl<s    of  old   New   England   days.      The 
offender  was  exposed  to  the  derision  of  his  fellows  with  his 
limbs  so  conflned  tliat  he  could  make  no  motion  at  all,  could 
not  so  much  as  brush  a  tly  from  his  face.      N'ariations  of  this 
form  of  punishment  are  seen  in  the  f urea  and  in  the  "mak- 
ing a  quadruped  out  of  a  man."     Tiie  latter  must  have  been 
something  like  the  "bucking  and  gagging"  used  as  a  punish- 
ment in  the  militia;  the  former  was  so  common  thut  fur cifer 
became  a  mere  term  of  abuse.     The  culprit  carried  upon  his 
shoulders  a  log  of  wood,  shaped  like  a  V,  and  had  his  arms 
stretched  out  before  him  with  his  bands  fastened  to  the  ends 
of  the  fork.     This  log  he  had  to  carry  around  in  order  that 
the  other  members  of  the ,/Ww//'"  might  see  him  and  take 
warning.     Sometimes  to  this  punishment  was  added  a  lash- 
ing as  he  moved  painfully  along. 

Less  painful  and  degrading  for  the  moniL'ut,  but  far  170 
more  dreaded  bv  the  slave,  was  a  sentence  to  harder  labor 
than  he  had  been  accustomed  to  perform.  The  final  penalty 
for  misconduct  on  the  part  of  a  city  slave,  for  whom  the  rod 
had  been  spoiled  in  vain,  was  banishment  to  the  farm,  and 
to  this  might  be  added  at  a  stroke  the  odious  task  of 
grinding  at  the  mill  (§U8),  or  the  crushing  toil  of  labor  in 


108 


TUK    ruiVATK    LIFK    OF    THE    KOMAXS 


DET'KXDKNTS  :    SLAVES    AXl)    CLIENTS.       HOSPITES    109 


the  quarries.     The  last  were  the  punishments  of  the  better 
class  of  farm  slaves,  while  the  desperate  and  dangerous  class 
of  slaves  wlio  regularly  worked  in  the  quarries  paid  for  their 
misdeeds  under  the  scourge  and  in  heavier  shackles  by  day 
and  fewer  hours  of  rest  by  night.     These  may  be  compared 
to  the  galley  slaves  of  later  times.     Those  utterly  incorri- 
gible might  be  .sold  for  gladiators. 
171        For  actual  crimes,  not  mere  faults  or  offenses,  the  pun- 
ishments were  far  more  severe.     Slaves  were  so  numerous 
(§131)  and  their  various  employments  gave  them  such  free 
access  to  the  person  of  the  master,  that  his  property  and 
very  life  were  always  at  their  mercy.     It  was  indeed  a  just 
and  gentle  master  that  did  not  sometimes  dream  of  a  slave 
holding  a  dagger  at  his  throat.     There  was  nothing  within 
the  confines  of  Italy  so  much  dreaded  as  an  uprising  of  the 


FiinKK  Xi.    Si,AVK-s  Collar 
Servi/s  «•//;*  i/o/mi)Ht  mei  .■ichohistiri  t{h-i)  s/t(ectabilis). 

domo  I'alftnilii. 


Tene  me  ne  fugiam  de 


slaves.  It  was  simply  tliis  haunting  fear  that  led  to  the 
inhuman  tortures  inflicted  ui)on  the  slave  gnilty  of  an 
attempt  upon  the  life  of  his  master  or  of  the  destruction  of 
his  property.  The  Romans  had  not  learned  twenty  cen- 
turies ago,  as  some  of  our  own  citizens  have  not  yet  learned 
that  crimes  are  not  lessened  by  increasing  the  sufferings  of 
the  criminals.  ° 

172        The  runaway  slave  was  a  crinn-nal :  he  had  stolen  himself 
lie  was  also  guilty  of  sotting  a  bad   example  to  his  fellow 


r 


slaves;  and,  worst  of  all,  runawjiv  slaves  always  heeaine  ban- 
dits (SH)1)  and  they  niislit  find  a  Spartaeus  to  lead  them 
(^13'^).  There  were,  therefore,  standinii;  rewards  for  the 
capture  of  fiKjitlrl,  and  there  were  men  who  made  it  their 
business  to  traek  them  down  and  return  them  to  their  mas- 
ters. The  f}i()itiriis  was  l)rought  back  in  shackles,  and 
was  sure  to  be  Hogged  within  an  inch  of  his  life  and  sent  to 
the  quarries  for  the  rest  of  his  miserable  days.  Besides  this, 
he  was  branded  on  the  forehead  with  the  letter  F,  for  />////- 
tlvns,  and  sometimes  had  a  metal  collar  riveted  about  his 
neck.  One  such,  still  preserved  at  Home,  is  shown  in  Fig. 
33,  and  another  has  the  inscription: 

FUGI.       TKNE    MH.       (UM    RKVOCAYERTS    ME    D.   M. 
ZONING,    ACCIPIS    SOLIDUM.^ 

For  an  attempt  upon  the  life  of  the  master  the  penalty  173 
was  death  in  its  most  agonizing  form,  b^  crucifixion.  'Jliis 
was  also  the  penalty  for  taking  part  in  an  msurrection,  wit- 
ness the  twenty  thousand  crucified  in  Sicily  (§13'2)  and  the 
six  tliousand  crosses  that  Pompeius  erected  along  the  road  to 
Rome,  each  bearing  the  body  of  one  of  the  survivors  of  the 
final  battle  in  which  Spartaeus  fell.  And  the  punishment 
w^s  inflicted  not  only  upon  the  slave  guilty  of  his  master's 
life,  but  also  upon  the  family  of  the  slave,  if  he  had  wife 
(§15r>)  and  children.  If  the  guilty  man  could  not  be  found, 
his  punishment  was  made  certain  by  ihii  crucifixion  of  all 
the  slaves  of  the  murdered  man.  Tacitus  tells  us  that  in  the 
reign  of  Nero  four  hundred  slaves  w^ere  executed  for  the 
murder  of  their  master,  Fedianus  Secundus,  by  one  of  their 
]niml)er  undetected. 

The  cross  stood  to  the  slave  as  the  horror  of  horrors.  174 
The  very  word  {rmo)  was  used  among  them  as  a  curse,  espe- 
cially  in  the  form  ((d  {inaJitHt)  rrvrem,     1^he  various  minor 
^I  liave  run  away.     Catch  me.     If  you  take  me  back  to  my 
master  Zoninus  you'll  be  rewarded. 


110 


THIO    IMIIVATK    LIFE    OF    TlfP:    KoMAXS 


DEPENDENTS  :    SLAVES    AND    CLIENTS.        IIOSPITES    111 


puiiishnuMiis  were  iiiiliclLM]  at  the  order  of  the  masler  or  his 
rei)reseutative  by  some  fellow  slave  ealled  for  the  time  car- 
nifex  or  lorarius,  though    these   words  hy  no  means  imply 
that  he  was  regularly  or  even  commonly  designated  for  the 
disagreeal)le  duty.     Still,  the  administration  of  punishment 
to  a  fellow  slave  was  felt  to  be  degrading,  and  the  word  car- 
nifex  was  apt  to  attach  itself  to  such  a  person  and  tiually 
came  to  be  a  standing  term  of  abuse  and  taunt.     It  is  applied 
to  each  other  by  ({uarreling  slaves,  apparently  with  no  notion 
of  its  literal  meaning,  as  many  vulgar  epithets  are  applied 
to-day.     The  actual  execution  of  a  death  sentence  was  car- 
ried out  by  one  of  the  .servipnhUcl  (§141)  at  a  fixed  place  of 
execution  outside  of  the  city  walls. 
175       Manumission.— The    slave    might  purchase  his  freedom 
from  his  master  by  means  of  his  savings,  as  we  liave  seen 
(S104),  or  he  might  be  set  free  as  a  reward  for  faithful  serv- 
ice or  some  special  act  of  devotioiL     In  either  case  it  was 
only  necessary  for  the  master  to  pronounce  him  free  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses,  though  a  formal  act  of  manumission 
often  took  place  before  a  praetor.     The  new-made  freedman 
set  proudly  on  his  head  the  cap  of  liberty   {piUeus),  often 
seen  on  Koman  coins  (Fig.  :U).     He  was  now  called  Uhertus 

in  reference  to  his  master,  Ubert'ums  in  refer- 
ence   to  others;    his    master   was    no  lono-er 
(lomiKus^  but  jmfronns.     The  relation  that 
now  existed  between  them  was  one  of  mutual 
helpfulness.     The  patron  assisted  the  freed- 
man in  business,  often   supplying  the  means 
with  which  he  was  to  make  a  start  in  his 
new  life.     If   the   freedman    died   first,   the 
patron  paid  the  expenses  of  a  decent  funeral 
and  had  the  body  buried  near  the  spot  where  his  own  ashes 
would  be  laid.     He  became  the  guardian  of  the  freednum's 
children,  or  if  no  heirs  were  left,  he  himself  inherited  tlie 
property.       The   freedinan   was   bound  to   show   his   patron 


FlOURK    M. 

Corx,  SnowiNO 

THK    PiLLEITS 


k    ^H  * 


« 


Mis 


marked  deference  ami  respect  on  all  occasions,  lo  attend 
liim  upon  public  occasions,  to  assist  him  in  case  of  reverse  of 
fortune,  and  in  sliort  to  stand  to  him  in  the  same  relation  as 
the  client  had  stood  to  the  patron  in  the  brave  days  of  old. 

The  Clients.- The  word  dienH  (from  rluro;  therefore  176 
''hearer,"  ''one  who  obeys")  is  used  in  Koman  history  of 
two  very  different  classes  of  dependents,  who  are  separated 
by  a  considerable  interval  of  time  and  may  be  roughly  distin- 
guished as  the  Old  Clients  and  the  New.  The  former  played 
an  important  part  under  the  Kings,  and  especially  in  the 
struggles  between  the  patricians  and  plebeians  in  the  early  days 
of  the  Republic,  but  had  practically  disappeared  by  the  time 
of  Cicero.  The  hitter  are  first  heard  of  after  the  Empire  was 
well  advanced,  and  never  had  auy  political  significance. 
Uetween  the  two  classes  there  is  ahsolutely  no  connection, 
and  the  student  must  be  careful  to  notice  that  the  later  is 
not  a  development  of  the  earher  class. 

The  Old  Clients.— Clientage  {cUeitWa)  goes  back  beyond  177 
the  founding  of  Rome  to  the  most  ancient  social  institutions 
of  the  Italian  communities.  The  gentex  who  settled  on  the 
hills  along  the  Tiber  [%'n)  had  brought  with  them  as  a  part 
of  W\Q\Y  famiUae  (§'21)  numerous  free  retainers,  wdio  seem 
to  have  farmed  their  lands,  tended  their  flocks,  and  done 
them  certain  personal  services  in  return  for  protection 
against  cattle  thieves,  raiders,  and  open  enemies.  These 
retainers  were  regarded  as  inferior  members  of  the  gens  to 
which  they  had  severally  attached  themselves,  had  a  share  in 
the  increase  of  the  flocks  and  herds  (§33,  pecillui),  and  were 
given  the  clan  name  (§4:),  but  they  had  no  right  of  mar- 
riage with  persons  of  the  higher  class  and  no  voice  in  the 
government.  They  were  the  original  7^/t'Z^N,  while  the 
gentiles  (§'22)  were  the  popnlus  of  Rome. 

Rome's  policy  of  exi)ansion  soon  brought  within  the  city  178 
a  third  element,   distinct  from  both  gentiles  and  dientes. 
Conquered  communities,  especially  those  dangerously  near, 


112 


THK     PTUVATK     MFK    oF    TIIK     UoMANS 


DKPEXDKXT^^  !    SLAVR:^    AND    OLIEXT.S.       TTOSPTTES    113 


wero   mado  to   destroy  their  own   strongholds   {upfrnh,)    und 
move  in  mass  to  the  city.     Those  who  possessed  already  tlie 
irentile  oro^anization   were   aUowed   to   heeome  a  i)art  of  tiie 
pnpulHs,  or  governing   body,  and    these,  too,   bronght   their 
rU.Hfes   with    them.      Those   who  liml   no  such   organization 
either  attached  tlieniselves  to  the  acn/es  as  clients,  or  pre- 
ferring personal  independence  settled  here  and  there,  in  and 
about  the  city,  to  make  a  living  as  best  they  might.      Some 
were  possessed  of  means   as  large  perhaps  as  those  of  tlie 
patricians;  others  were  artisans  and  laborers,  hewers  of  wood 
and  drawers  of  water;    but  all  alike   were  without  political 
rights  ami  occupied   the  lowest  position  in   the  new  state. 
Their    numbers    increased    ra])idly   with   the    expansion  of 
Roman  territory,  and  they  soon  outnumbered  the  patricians 
with   their   retainers,    with    whom,   of  course,  as  conquered 
people   they  could    have  no   sympathies  or  social   ties.      To 
them  also  the  name  of  plehs  was  given,  and  the  old  plehs^  the 
rlivntes,   began   to   occupy  an   intermediate  ])osition   in   the 
state,  though  j)oliticalIy  included  with  the  plebeians.      .Alany 
of  them,  owing  perhaps  to  the  dying  out  of  ancient  patrician 
families,  gradually  lost  their  dependent  relation  and  became 
identitied  in  interests  with  the  newer  element. 
179        Mutual  Obligations.-The  relation  between  the  patrician 
patrons  and  the  plebeian  clients  is  not  now  thoroughly  under- 
stood; the  ])roblems  connected  with  it  seem  beyond  solution. 
We  know  that  it  was   hereditary  and  that  the  great   houses 
boasted   of  the  number  of  their  clients  and  were  eager  to 
increase  them  from  generation  to  generation.     We  know  that  it 
was  regarded  as  something  pecidiarly  sacred,  that  the  client 
stood  to  the  patron  as  little  less  than  a  son.     Vergil  tells  us 
that  a  special  punishment   in  the  underworld  awaited  the 
patron  who  defrauded  a  client.     AVe  read,  too,  of  instancies 
of  splendid  loyalty  to  their  patrons  on  the  part  of  clients,  a 
loyalty  to  which  we  can  only  compare  in  modern  times  that 
of  Highlanders  to   the  chief  of  their  clan.     J^ut  when   we 


try  to  get  an  idea  of  the  reciprocal  duties  and  obligations  we 
tind  little  in  our  authorities  that  is  definite  (§1'^,  end).  The 
patron  furnished  means  of  support  for  the  client  and  his 
family  (§177),  gave  him  the  benetit  of  his  advice  and  counsel, 
and  assisted  him  in  his  transactions  with  third  parties,  repre- 
senting him  if  necessary  in  the  courts.  On  the  other  hand 
the  client  was  bound  to  advance  the  interests  of  his  patron 
in  every  possible  way.  lie  tilled  his  fields,  herded  his  Hocks, 
attended  him  in  war,  and  assisted  him  in  special  emer- 
gencies with  money. 

It  is  evident  that  the  mutuality  of  this  relation  depended  180 
solely  upon  the  predominant  position  of  the  patron  in  the 
state.     So  long  as  the  patricians  w^ere  the  only  full  citizens, 
so  long,  that  is,  as  the  ])lebeians  had  no  civil  rights,  the  client 
might  well  afford  to  sacritice  his  personal  independence  for 
the  sake  of  the  countenance  and  protection  of  one  of  the 
mighty.     In  the  case  of  disputes  over  proiierty,  for  example, 
the  support  of  his  patron  would  assure  him  justice  even 
against  a  patrician,  and  might  secure  more  than  justice  were 
his  opponent  a  plebeian  without  another  such  advocate.     It  is 
evident,  too,  that  the  relation  could  not  long  endure  after 
the  equalization  of  the  orders.     For  a  generation  or  two  the 
patron  and  the  client  might  stand  together  against  their  old 
adversaries,  but  sooner  or  later  the  client  would  see  that  he 
was  getting  no  equivalent  for  the  service  he  rendered,  and 
his  children  or  his  childreirs  children  would  throw  off  the 
yoke.       The   introduction    of    slavery,    on   the    other   hand, 
helped  to  make  the  patron  independent  of  the  client,  and 
while  we  can  hardly  tell  whether  its  rapid  growth  (81*29)  was 
the  cause  or  the  effect  of  declining  clientage,  it  is  nevertheless 
significant  that  the  new  relation  of  patronns  ami   Uberfus 
(§175)    nuirks   the   disappearance   of  that   of  p((troni(s  and 
cliens  in  the  old  and  better  sense  of  the  words. 

The  New  Clients. — The  new   clients  need   not   detain    us  181 
long.     They  came  in  with  the  upstart  rich,  who  counted  i* 


; 


114. 


THE    I'inVATK    r.IFE    OF    TiriC     ItoMAXS 


loii^r  train  of  .lopc^ndcnls  as  iiooo,s..urv  (■•  ll.eir  stale  as  a  sfcrin- 
of  lii-h-sniuuliiig   names   (§:.(»),  ov  u   nimision  crowded    with 
useless    slaves     (gl.-i.-i).       Tliese    dcpen.leuis     were    simply 
obscure  and  needy  men  who  toadied  to  tlie  rich  and  yreat 
for  the  sake  of  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  their  tables.     There 
MiiKht  be  among  them  men  of  perverted  talents,  philosophers 
or  poets  like  Martial  and  Statins,  but  they  were  all  at  best  a 
swarm  of  crij.oi„ir,  fawning,  time-serving  flatterers  and  para- 
sites.    It  is  im])ortant  to  nuderstand   that  there  was  no  per- 
sonal tie  between   the  new   patron   and   the  new  client,  no 
bond  of  hereditary  association.     Xo  sacrifice  was  involved  on 
either  side.     The  client  did  not  attach  himself  for  life  to  one 
patron  for  better  or  for  worse;    he  freqiientlv  paid  his  court 
to  several  at  a  time  and  changed  his  masters  as  often  as  he 
could  hope  for  better  things.     The  patron  in  like  manner 
dismissed  a  client  when  he  had  tired  of  him. 
182        Duties  and  Rewards.  -The  service,  however  mean  and 
degrading,  was  easy  enough.      The  chief  duty  was  the  sahl- 
tulio:  the  clients  arrayed  in  tlie  toga,  the  formal  dress  for  all 
social  functions,  assembled  early  in  the  morning  in  the  great 
man's  hall  to  greet  him  when  he  first  appeared.     'J'jiis  ini-^ht 
be  all  required  of  them  for  the  day,  and  there  might  l)e  time 
to  hurry  through  the  streets  to  another  house  topay  similar 
lioinage  to  another  pat  ron,  perhaps  to  others  still,"^  for  the 
nch  slei.t  late.      On  the  other  hand  the  patron  might  com- 
mand their  attendauoe  in  the  house  or  bv  his  litter  (j$].51)   if 
he  was  going  out,  and  keep  them  at  his  side  tlie  whole  day 
long.     Then   there  was  no  chance  to  wait  upon  the  second 
patron,  but  every  chance  to  be  forgotten  by  him.     And  the 
rewar.ls  were  lu)  greater  than  the  services.^    A  few  coins  for 
a  clever  witticism  or  a  fulsome  compliment;  a  cast-off  toga 
occasionally,  for  a  shabby  dress  disgraced   the  levee;    or  an 
invitation  to  the  dinner  table  if  the  patron  was  particularly 
gracious.     One  meal  a  day  was  always  expected,  and  felt  to 
be  the  due  of  the  client.      ]5ut  sometimes  the  patron  did  not 


\  "•■ 


'»    y 


i 


^H    * 


V 


DKPKNDENTS  :     SLAVES     AND    (CLIENTS.        ITOSPTTES    115 

receive  and  the  elieiits  were  ^^eiit  em})! y  Jiway.  Sonietinies, 
too,  after  a  day's  attendance  the  hungry  and  tired  train  were 
dismissed  with  a  gift  of  cold  food  distributed  in  little  baskets 
{sportuhw),  a  poor  and  sorry  substitute  for  the  good  cheer 
they  had  hoped  for.  From  these  baskets  the  ''dole/'  as  we 
should  call  it  now,  came  to  be  called  sportnla  itself,  and  in 
the  course  of  time  an  equivalent  in  money,  fixed  finally  at 
about  thirty  cents,  took  the  place  of  this.  But  it  was  some- 
thing to  be  admitted  to  the  familiar  presence  of  the  rich  and 
fashionable,  there  was  always  the  hope  of  a  little  legacy,  if 
the  flattery  was  adroit,  and  even  the  dole  would  enable  one 
to  live  more  easily  than  by  work,  especially  if  one  could  stand 
well  with  several  patrons  and  draw  the  dole  from  each  of  them. 

The  Hospites. — Finally  we  come  to  the  /iosplfes,  tlioughl83 
these  in  strictness  ought  not  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
dependents.  It  is  true  that  they  were  often  dependent  on 
others  for  protection  and  help,  but  it  is  also  true  that  they 
were  equally  ready  and  able  to  extend  like  help  and  protec- 
tion to  others  who  had  the  right  to  claim  assistance  from 
them.  It  is  important  to  observe  that  lioxpitiuni  differed 
from  clientship  in  this  respect,  that  the  parties  to  it  were 
actually  on  the  footing  of  absolute  equality.  Although  at 
some  particular  time  one  might  be  dependent  upon  the  other 
for  food  or  shelter,  at  another  time  the  relations  might  be 
reversed  and   the  protector  and  the  protected  change  places. 

HospifffffH,  in  its  tec^lmical  sense,  goes  back  to  a  time  184 
when  there  were  no  international  relations,  to  the  time  when 
stranger  and  enemy  were  not  merely  synonymous  words,  but 
absolutely  the  same  word.  In  this  early  stage  of  society, 
when  distinct  communities  were  numerous,  every  stranger 
was  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  and  the  traveler  in  a  state 
not  his  own  found  it  difficult  to  get  his  wants  supplied,  even 
if  his  life  was  not  actually  in  danger.  Hence  the  custom 
arose  for  a  man  engaged  in  commerce  or  in  any  other  occu- 
pation that  might  compel  him   to  visit  a  foreign  country  to 


116 


TflE    PKTVATK    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


f 


'  ■    » .. 


form  previously  Ji  connection  with  a  citizen  of  that  (U)untry, 
who  would  be  ready  to  receive  him  as  a  friend,  to  supply  his 
needs,  to  vouch  for  his  good  intentions,  and  to  act  if  neces- 
s.iry  as  his  protector.  Such  a  relationship,  called  /lospitin/n^ 
was  always  strictly  reciprocal:  if  A  agreed  to  entertain  and 
protect  B,  when  B  visited  A's  country,  then  B  was  bound  to 
entertain  and  protect  A,  if  A  visited  B's  country.  The 
l)arties  to  an  agreement  of  this  sort  were  called  Jufspiic-^,  and 
hence  the  word  liospes  has  a  dou])le  signification,  at  one  time 
denoting  the  entertainer,  at  anotlier  the  guest. 
185  Obligations  of  Hospitium. — llie  obligations  imposed  by 
this  covenant  were  of  the  most  sacred  character,  and  any 
failure  to  regard  its  provisions  was  sacrilege, 'bringing  upon 
tlie  offender  the  anger  of  [uppifer  lf(fx/)if(lJis.  Either  of  the 
parties  might  cancel  the  bond,  but  only  after  a  formal  and 
public  notice  of  his  intentions.  On  the  other  hand  the  tie 
was  hereditary,  descending  from  father  to  son,  so  that  per- 
sons might  be  hospifes  who  had  never  so  much  as  seen  each 
other,  whose  immediate  ancestors  even  might  have  had  no 
personal  intercourse.  As  a  means  of  identification  the  orig- 
inal parties  exchanged  tokens  {tesserae  Iiospitdles^  see  Kich 
and  Harper,  s.  v.),  by  which  they  or  their  descendants  might 
recognize  each  other.  These  tokens  were  carefully  pre- 
served, and  when  a  stranger  claimed  lutspitium  his  tessera 
had  to  be  prodiu'cd  and  submitted  for  examination.  If  it 
was  found  to  be  genuine,  he  was  entitled  to  all  the  privileges 
that  the  best-known  guest-frierul  could  expect.  These  seem 
to  have  been  entertainment  so  lonsr  as  he  remained  in  his 
host's  city,  protection  incliuling  legal  assistance  if  necessary, 
nursing  and  medical  attendance  in  case  of  illness,  the  means 
necessary  for  continuing  his  journey,  and  honorable  burial  if 
he  died  amonsr  strang^ers.  It  will  be  noticed  that  these  are 
almost  precisely  the  diities  devolving  upon  members  of  our 
great  beiu^volent  societies  at  the  present  time  when  appealed 
to  by  a  brother  in  distress. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   HOUSE   AND   ITS   FURNITURE 

references:  Marqnardt,  213-250,  607-645:  GoU,  11,  213-4rr:  Guhl  andKoner, 
556-580,  676-688,  705-125;  Kaiiisay,  516-521_;  Pauly-Wissowa,  atrium,  complurium; 
Smith,  Harper,  Rich,  wwA^v  doinus,  mTirns,  tegula,  and  the  other  Latin  words 
used  in  the  text;  Lubker,  507-50i>;  Baumeister,  13^5  f.,  6:^1.927  f.,  IS'S  f.;  Mau- 
Kelsey,  239-348,  361-373,  416-474;  Overbeck,  244-376,  520-537;  Gtisman,  253-316. 

Domus.— The  house  with  which  we  are  concerned  is  the  186 
residence   {don} us)   of   the  single  household,  as   opposed   to 
lodging  houses  or  apartment  houses   {insulae)  intended  for 
the  accommodation  of    several  families,  and  the  residence, 
moreover,  of  the  well-to-do  citizen,  as  opposed  on  the  one 
hand  to  the  mansion  of  the  millionaire  and  on  the  other  to 
the  hovels  of  the  very  poor.     At  the  same  time  it  must  be 
understood  that  the  Roman  house  did  not  show  as  many  dis- 
tinct types  as  does  the  American  house  of  the  present  time. 
The  Roman  was  naturally  conservative,  he  was  particularly 
reluctant    to  introduce  foreign  ideas,  and  his  house  in  all 
times   and   of   all   classes    preserved    certain   main   features 
essentially  unchanged.      The  proportion  of  these  might  vary 
with  the  size  and  shape  of  the  lot  at  the  builder's  disposal, 
the  number  of   apartments  added  would  depend  upon  the 
means  and  tastes  of  the  owner,  but  the  kernel,  so  to  speak, 
is  always  the  same,  and  this  makes  the   general  plan  much 
less  complex,  the  description  much  less  confusing. 

Our  sources  of  information  are  unusually  abundant.  187 
Vitruvius,  an  architect  and  engineer  of  the  time  of  ('ae>ar 
and  Augustus,  has  left  a  work  on  building,  giving  in  detail 
his  own  principles  o^  construction;  the  works  of  many  of  the 
Roman  writers  contain  either  set  descriptions  of  parts  of 
houses  or  at  least  numerous  hints  and  allusions  that  are  col- 

117 


118 


THE     PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE     ROMANS 


lectively  very  helpful;  and  tinally  the  ground  plans  of  many 
houses  have  been  uncovered  in  Rome  and  elsewhere,  and  iii 
Pompeii  we  have  even  the  walls  of  some  houses  left  stand- 
ing.      There    are    still,    however,    despite  the  fullness    and 
authority  of    our  sources,    many    things    in    regard    to    the 
arrangement  and  construction  of  the  house  that  are  uncer- 
tain and  disputed  (gl*^,  end). 
188       The  Development  of  the  House.— The   i)rimitive  Raman 
house  came  from  the  Etruscans.     It  goes  back  to  the  simple 
farm  life  of  early  times,  when  all  members  of  the  household, 
father,  mother,  children,  and  dependents,   lived  in  one  large 
room   together.      In   this   room   the  meals  were  cooked,  the 
table    spread,    all     indoor    work    performed,    the     sacrifices 
offered   to  the   Lares  (S->:),  and   at  night  a  space  cleared  in 
which  to   spread   the  hard    beds  or  pallets.      'I1u^  primitive 
house  had  no  chimney,  the  smoke  escaping  through  a  hole 
in  the  middle  of  tlie  roof.      Ruin  could  enter  where  the  smoke 
escaped,  and   from   this  fjict    the  hole  was  called  the  iuiplu- 
vium:    just  })eneatli   it  in    hiter  times  a  basin    {nrtDitluriuin) 
was  hollowed  out  in  the  tloor  to  catcli  the  water  for  domestic 
jnirposes.      There  were  no  windows,  all  natural  light  coming 
through  the  imphivitfHf  or,  in  pleasant  weather,  through  the 
open  door.     There  was  but  one  door,  and  the  space  o])posite 
it  seems  to  have  been  reserved  as  nnich  as  possible  for  the 

father  and  mother.  Here  was 
the  hearth,  where  the  mother 
prepared  the  meals,  and  near 
it  stood  the  implements  she 
used  in  spinning  and  weaving; 
here  was  the  strong  box  {area), 
in  which  the  master  kept  his 
valua])les,  and  liere  their  couch 
was  spread. 
189  The  ontward  ai)|)earanee  of  such  a  house  is  shown  in  the 
Ktruscan  cinerary    nrns   (Fig.  .'^o;    see   also  Suiith,    T,   fiOS; 


KimiKK  ;r>.    i'inkkauv  Ikv 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


119 


r 


FlOTRE  36. 

Plan  of  Hoi'sh 


Schreiber,  LIII,  5;  Baumeister,  Fig.  l-tG)  found  in  various 
places  in  Italy.  The  ground  plan  is  a  simple  rectangle,  as 
shown  in  Figure  36,  without  partitions.  This  may  be 
regarded  as  historically  and  architecturally 
the  kernel  of  the  Roman  house;  it  is  found 
in  all  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge. 
Its  very  name  {dtrium),  denoting  originally 
the  whole  house,  was  also  preserved,  as  is 
shown  in  the  names  of  certain  very  ancient 
buildings  in  Rome  used  for  religious  pur- 
poses, the  (Itrhnti  Vestae,  the  dfrninf  lAbcrtdfis^  etc.,  but 
afterwards  applied  to  the  characteristic  single  room.  The 
name  was  once  supposed  to  mean  ''the  ])lack  {(Iter)  room," 
])nt  many  scholars  recognize  in  it  the  original  Etruscan  word 
for  house. 

The  first  change  in  the  primitive  house  came  in  the  form  190 
of  a  shed  or  ''lean-to"  on  the  side  of  the  (Ifruim  opposite  the 
door.  It  was  probably  intended  at  first  for  merely  temporary 
purposes,  being  built  of  wooden  1)oards  {lahuhte),  and  having 
an  outside  door  and  no  coiniection  with  the  dlritiiiK  It 
could  not  have  been  long,  however,  until  the  wall  between 
was  broken  through,  aiul  this  once  done  and  its  (convenience 
demonstrated,  the  partition  wall  was  entirely  removed,  and 
the  second  form  of  the  Roman  house  resulted  (Fig.  3T). 
This  improvement  also  persisted,  and  the  ffthUnfun  is  found 

in  all  the  houses  from  the  humblest 
to  the  costliest  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge. 

i'' ''         ^^J  The    next    change    was  made  by  191 

mammmmi^mmmJk  widening  the  dtriuin,   but   in   order 

that  the  roof  might  l)e  more  easily 
su})ported  walls  were  erected  along 
the  lines  of  the  old  dfriaiH  for  about  two-thirds  of  its 
depth.  These  may  have  been  originally  mere  pillars,  as 
nowadays  in  our  cellars,  not  continuous  v/alls.      At  any  rate, 


FlOTRK   87. 

Plan  <»f  llorsK 


120 


THK    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


'* 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


121 


FmuRE  38. 
Plan  of  IIoitsk 


the  afriiuu  at  the  end  next  the  fabUnwm  was  given  the  full 
width  between  the  outside  walls,  aiul  the  additional  spaces, 
one   on   each   side,    were  called   alae.      The  appearance    of 

such  a  house  as    seen  from   the  en- 
trance door  must    have    been    much 
like  that  of  an  Anglican  or  Roman 
Catholic    church.     The    open    space 
between  the  supporting  walls  corre- 
sponded to  the  nave,  the  two  diae  to 
the    transepts,    while    the     bay-like 
tabriHUiH     resembled     the     chancel. 
The  space  between  the  outside  walls 
and    those  supporting  the   roof    was 
cut  off  into  rooms  of  various  sizes,  used  for  various  purposes 
(Fig.  38).      So  far  as  we  know  they  received  light  only  from 
the  dtrin))}^  for  no  windows  are  assigned  to  them  by  Roman 
writers,  and  none  are  found   in  the  ruins,  but  it  is  hardlv 
proba])le  that  in  the  country  no  holes  were  made  for  light 
and  air,  however  considerations  of  privacy  and  security  mav 
ave  intluenced   builders  in  th3  towns.      From  this  ancient 
house  we  find  preserved   in   its  successors  all  opposite  the 
entrance  door:    the  dtrin/if  with   its  d/ae  and  hibrniuin^  the 
nHpluvifua  and  comjjlnrluni,      I'hese  are  the  characteristic 
features  of  the  Roman  house,  and  must  be  so  regarded  in  the 
descri])ti()n  which  follows  of  later  developments  under  foreign 
influence. 

192  The  (Jreeks  seem  to  have  furnished  the  idea  next 
adopted  by  the  Ronnins,  a  court  at  the  rear  of  the  dtrium 
oj)en  to  the  sky,  surrounded  by  rooms,  and  set  with  flowers, 
trees,  and  shrubs.  The  open  space  had  columns  around  it 
and  often  a  fountain  in  the  middle  (Fig.  M)),  This  court 
was  called  the  prrisfjilfon  or  peristTflinm.  According  to 
Vitruvius  its  breadth  should  have  exceeded  its  depth  by  one- 
third,  but  we  do  ]iot  find  these  or  any  other  proportions 
strictly  observed  in  the  houses  that  are  known  to  us.      Access 


Vi 


u' 


Fiuukk39.    Plan  of  Housk 


to  the  pevistylluni  from  the  dtrinni  could  be  had  through 
the  tablluum,  though  this  might  1)8  cut  off  from  it  by  fold- 
ing doors,  and  by  a  narrow  passage^  by  its  side.     The  latter 
would  be  natur- 
allvusedby  serv- 
a  n  t  s    and    by 
others    who    did 
not  wish  to  pass 
through  the  mas- 
ter's room.   ])Oth 
passage  and  tab- 
riniun   might  be 
closed  on  the  side 
of  the  dtrifnii  by 

portieres.  The  arrangement  of  the  various  rooms  around 
the  court  seems  to  have  varied  with  the  notions  of  the 
!)uilder,  and  no  one  plan  for  them  can  be  laid  down. 
According  to  the  means  of  the  owner  there  were  bedrooms, 
dining-rooms,  libraries,  drawing-rooms,  kitchen,  scullery, 
closets,  private  baths,  together  with  the  scanty  accommoda- 
tions necessary  even  for  a  large  iiumber  of  slaves.  But  no 
matter  whether  these  rooms  were  many  or  few  they  all  faced 
the  court,  receiving  from  it  light  and  air,  as  did  the  rooms 
along  the  sides  of  !^the  dtrlnm.     There  was  often  a  garden 

behind  the  court. 

The  next  change  took  place  in  the  city  and  town  house  193 
only,  because  it  was  due  to  conditions  of  town  life  tliat  did 
not  obtain  in  the  country.  In  ancient  as  well  as  in  modern 
times  business  was  likely  to  spread  from  the  center  of  the 
town  into  residence  districts,  and  it  often  l)ecame  desirable 
for  the  owner  of  a  dwelling-house  to  adapt  it  to  the  new  con- 
ditions.    This  was  easily  done  in   the  case  of  the  Roman 


iThis  passage  is  called  fancH  in  the  older  books.  Mau  has 
shown  that  the  fauces  was  on  the  entrance  side  of  the  atrium.  He 
calls  the  passage  by  the  fabUnum  the  andrOu. 


1  '>') 


THE    I'KIVATK     LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    HOrSE    AND    ITS    FIRNITURE 


123 


house  on  account  of  the  cirnuigement  of  the  rooms.  Atten- 
tion has  already  been  called  to  the  fact  that  the  rooms  all 
opened  to  the  interior  of  the  house,  that  no  windows  were 
placed  in  the  outer  walls,  and  that  the  only  door  was  in 
front.  If  the  house  faced  a  business  street,  it  is  evident 
that  the  owner  could,  without  interferi!]<,^  with  the  privacv  of 
his  house  or  decreasing  its  light,  build  rooms  in  front  of  the 
atriunf  for  commercial  purposes,  lie  reserved,  of  course,  a 
passageway  to  his  own  door,  narrower  or  wider  according  to 
the  circumstances.  If  the  house  occupied  a  corner,  such 
rooms  might  be  added  on  the  side  as  well  as  in  front  (Fig. 
40),  and  as  they  had  no  necessary  connection  with  the  inte- 


r  — 


Figure  4(J.    Plan  of  House 


rior  thw  mi.irht  be  rented  as  liviiicr-rooms,  as  such  rooms 
often  are  in  our  i)v;n  cities.  It  is  probable  that  rooms  were 
first  added  in  tbis  way  for  business  ]»urposes  by  an  owner  who 
expected  to  carry  on  some  enterprise  of  liis  own  in  them,  but 
even  men  of  good  position  and  consideralde  means  did  not 
hesitate  to  add  to  their  incomes  by  renting  to  others  these  dis- 
connected parts  of  tlieir  bouses.  All  tlie  larger  bouses 
uncovered  in  Pompeii  are  arranged  in  this  manner.  One 
occupying  a  wiiole  square  and  Iiavitig  rented  rooms  on  three 
sides  is  described  in  J;->0,s.  ^wXx  a  detached  iionse  was  called 
an  hisi(l((. 


X- 


r 


<^ 


The  Vestibulum.— Having  traced  the  devehipment  of  the  194 
house  as  a  whole  and  described  briefly  its  permanent  and 
characteristic  parts,  we  may  now  examine  these  more  closely 
and  at  the  same  time  call  attention  to  other  parts  introduced 
at  a  later  time.     It  will  be  convenient  to  begin  with  the  front 
of  the  house.     The  city  house  was  built  even  more  generally 
than  now  on  the  street  line.     In  the  poorer  houses  the  door 
opening  into  the  dtrium  was  in  the  front  wall,  and  was  sepa- 
rated from  the  street  only  by  the  width  of  the  threshold.      In 
the  better  sort  of  houses,  those  described  in  the  last  section, 
the  separation  of  the  (Itriiou   from  the  street  by  the  row  of 
stores    gave    opportunity    for    arranging    a    more     imposing 
entrance.      A  part  at  least  of  this  space  was  left  as  an  open 
court,  with  a  costly  pavement  running  from  the  street  to  the 
door,  adorned   with   shrul)s  and  flowers,  with  statuary  even, 
•ind  trophies  of  war,  if  the  owner  was  rich  and  a  successful 
'reneral.     This  courtyard  was  called   the   ve.slibulffvi.     The 
derivation  of  the  word  is  disi)uted,  but  it   probably  comes 
from  re-,  "apart,"  "separate,''  and  ,s/(lre  (cf.  prfhsii/jfflu^u 
from  prdstdrc),  aiul  means  "a  private  standing  place" ;  other 
explanations  are  suggested  in  the  dictionaries.      The  impor- 
tant thing  to  notice  is  that  it  does  not  correspond  at  all  io 
the  part  of  a  modern  house  called  after  it  the  vestibule.      In 
this  vest ibuJu ill  the  clients  gathered,  before  daybreak  perhaps 
(glS2),  to  wait  for  admission  to  the  dtrium,  and  here  the 
spurt ida  was  doled  out  to  them.     Here,  too,  was  arranged  the 
Avedding  procession  (§S6),  and  here  was  marshaled  the  train 
that  escorted  the  boy  to  the  forum  the  day  that  he  put  away 
childish  things  (§128).     Even  in  the  poorer  houses  the  same 
name  was  given  to  the  little  space  between  the  door  and  the 

edge  of  the  sidewalk. 

The  Ostium.— The  entrance  to  the  house  was  called   the  195 
astinm.      This  includes  the  dooi'way  and  the  door  itself,  and 
the  word  is  applied  to  either,  though /orrv  and  idnna  are  the 
more   precise   words   for   the   door.      In    the   poorer    houses 


124 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


(§194)  the  ostium  was  directly  on  the  street,  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  it  originally  opened  directly  into  the 
atrium;  in  other  words,  the  ancient  atrium  was  separated 
from  the  street  only  by  its  own  wall.  The  refinement  of 
later  times  led  to  the  introduction  of  a  hall  or  passageway 
between  the  vestibuhim  and  the  atrium,  and  the  dstlu)n 
opened  into  this  hall  and  gradually  gave  its  name  to  it.  The 
tlireshold  (llmen)  was  broad,   the  door   being  placed  well 

back,  and  often  had  the 
word  saire  worked  on  it 
in  mosaic.  Over  the 
door  were  words  of  good 
omen,  Nihil  intret  mall^ 
for  example,  or  a  charm 
against  fire.  In  the  great 
houses  where  an  odidrius 
or  id  nit  or  (§150)  was 
kept  on  duty,  his  place 
was  behind  the  door,  and 
sometimes  he  had  here 
a  small  room.  A  dog  was 
often  kept  chained  in  the 
ostium^  or  in  default  of 
one  a  picture  was  painted 
on  the  wall  or  worked  in 
mosaic  on  the  floor  (Fig. 
41)  with  the  warning  beneath  it :  Cave  canem!  The  hallway 
was  closed  on  the  side  of  the  atrium  with  a  Gurtmii  {veliim). 
This  hallway  was  not  so  long  that  through  it  persons  in 
the  atrium  could  not  see  passers-by  in  the  street. 
196  The  Atrium.— The  dtrinm  (§188)  was  the  kernel  of  the 
Eoman  house,  and  to  it  was  given  the  appropriate  name 
cavujn  aedium.  It  is  possible  that  this  later  name  belonged 
strictly  to  the  unroofed  portion  only,  but  the  two  words  came 
to  be  used  indiscriminately.     The  old  view  that  the  cavum 


FiQUBE  41.    Mosaic  Dog 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


125 


FlClUKE  42. 

iMPLUviuM  IN  Tuscan  Atrium 


nrdium  was  a  miildle  court  between  the  dtrinm  and  the 
peristjjlium  is  still  held  by  a  few  scholars,  but  is  not  sup- 
ported by  the  monumental  evidence  (§187).  The  most 
conspicuous  features  of  the 
dfrium  were  the  imphiviuni 
and  the  com2)luvium  (§188). 
The  water  collected  in  the 
latter  was  carried  into  cis- 
terns ;  over  the  former  a  cur- 
tain could  be  drawn  when  the 
light  was  too  intense,  as  over 
a  photographer's  skylight 
nowadays.  We  find  that  the 
two  words  were  carelessly 
used  for  each  other  by  Roman 
writers.  So  important  was 
the  impluvium  to  the  dtrinm, 

that  the  latter  was  named  from  the  manner  in  which  the 
former  was  constructed.     Vitruvius  tells  us  that  there  were 

four  styles.  The  first 
was  called  the  dtriuvi 
Tiiscanicum.  In  this  the 
roof  was  formed  by  two 
pairs  of  beams  crossing 
each  other  at  right  an- 
gles, the  inclosed  space 
being  left  uncovered  and 
thus  forming  the  implu- 
vium  (Figs.  4*^,  43). 
The  name  (§188)  as  well 
as  the  simple  construction 
shows  that  this  was  the 
earliest  form  of  the  dtrium,  and  it  is  evident  that  it 
could  not  be  used  for  rooms  of  very  large  dimensions.  The 
second  was  called  the  dtrinm  tetrastylon.     The  beams  were 


Figure  43.    fcJiocTioN  of  Tuscan  Atrium 


120 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


supportcMl  at  Mioir  intersections  by  pillars  or  coluniiis.      The 
.third,  (Itrinni  Carhithi  nni,  differed   from  the  second  only  in 
having  more   tlian  four   supporting  pillars.     It  is  probable 
that  these  two  similar  stvle.^  came  in  with  the  widening  oi 
the  atrifiin  (glOl).     The  fourth  was  called  the  atrium  dis~ 
pluridtuNK     In  this  the  roof  sloped  toward  the  outer  walls, 
as  shown  in   the  cinerary  urn  mentioned  in   §181),   and  the 
water  was  carried  off  by  gutters  on  the  outside,  the  rnmpJu^ 
vium  collecting  only  so  much  as  actually  fell  into  it  from  the 
lieavens.       AVe   are    told    that    there    was    another   style  of 
(IfriHm,  the  frsffu/iiulhim,  which   was  covered   all   over  and 
liad   neither  in)})h(rlum   nor  comphiriuni.      We  do  not  know 
liow  this  was  lighted;  perhaps  by  windows  in  the  Cdav. 
197        The  Change  in  the  Atrium.— The  atr'nim  as  it  was  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Republic  has  been  described  in  §188.      The 
shnplicity  and  purity  of  the  family  life  of  that  period  lent  a 
dignity  to  the  one-room  house  that  the  vast  palaces  of  the 
Lite    Republic    and    Empire    failed   utterly    to  inherit.      By 
Cicero's   time   the   dfvium    had   ceased   to  be  the  center  of 
domestic  life;  it  had  become  a  state  apartment  used  only  for 
display.      We  do  i^.ot  know  the  successive  steps  in  the  process 
of  change.     Probably  the  rooms  along  the  sides  (§191)  were 
first  used  as  bedrooms,    for   the    sake  of    greater  privacy. 
I^ie  neqd  of  a  detached  room  for  the  cooking  must  have  been 
felt  as  soon  as  the  prrixfj/lifan  was  adopted    (it  may  well  be 
that  the  court  was  originally  a  kitchen  garden),  and  then  of 
a  dining-room  convenient  to  it.      ^Fhen   other  rooms   were 
added  about  this  court  and  these  were  made  sleeping  apart- 
ments for  the  sake  of  still  greater  privacy.      Finally  these 
rooms  were  needed  for  other  purposes  (j<19->)  and   the  sleep- 
ing-rooms  were  moved  again,  this  time  to  an  upper  story. 
When  this  second  story  was  added  we  do  not  know,  but'^it 
presupposes  the  small  ami  costly  lots  of  a  citv.      Even  the 
most   unpretentious  houses   in    Pompeii  have  in   them   the 
remains  of  staircases  (Fig.  44). 


THE    HOrSE    AND    ITS    FURNITrRE 


127 


f; 


*  u 

«] 


t 


The  (Itriurn  was  now  litted   up  with  all  the  splendor  and  198 
magnificence  that  the  owner's  means  would   permit.      Tlie 
opening  in  the  roof  was  enlarged  to  admit  more  light,  and 
the     supporting     pillars     (§19<)) 
were  made    of  mar])le    or   eostlv 
woods.    Between  these  pillars  and 
along  the  walls  statues  and  other 
works  of  art  were  i)]aced.      The 
cotnpluvittm     became     a    marble 
basin,  with  a  fountain  in  the  cen- 
ter, and  was  often  richly  carved 


or  adorned  with  figures  in  relief. 


F'rfjTRK  44. 
Small  UorsK  ai  I'omi'kii 


The  floors  were  mosaic,  the  walls 

painted  in  brilliant  colors  or  paneled  with  marbles  of  numy 
hues,  and  the  ceilings  were  covered  with  ivory  and  gold. 
In  such  a  hall  (Fig.  45)  the  host  greeted  his  guests   (§185), 


FioTRE  45.    Atrium  in  Housk  of  Sallust  in  Pompkii 

the  patron  received  his  clients  (§182),  the  husband  wel- 
comed his  wife  (§89),  and  here  his  body  lay  in  state  when 
the  pride  of  life  was  over. 


128 


THE    PRIVATR    LIFP:    OF    THE    ROMANS 


199  Still  sonic  memorials  of  the  older  dav  were  left  in  even  the 
most  imposing  dtrium.  The  altar  to  the  Lares  and  Penates 
remained  near  the  i)lace  where  the  hearth  had  been,  though 
the  regular  sacrifices  were  made  in  a  special  chapel  in  the 
perlstyliiDn,  In  even  tlie  grandest  liouses  the  implements 
for  spinning  were  kept  in  tlie  place  where  the  matron  had 
once  sat  among  her  maidservants  (§§H6,  105),  as  Livy  tells 

us  in  the  storv  of 
Lucretia.  The  cabi- 
nets retained  the 
masks  of  simpler  and 
may  be  stronger  men 
(§l()t),  and  the  mar- 
riage couch  stood 
opposite  the  ostiutn 
(hence  its  other 
name,  Jectus  adrer- 
sns)^  where  it  had 
been  placed  on  the 
wedding  night  (§89),  thongh  no  one  slept  in  the  (lfr{}(m. 
In  the  country  much  of  the  old-time  use  of  the  dtriiini 
survived  even  Augustus,  aiul  the  poor,  of  course,  had 
never  changed  their  style  of  living.  What  use  was  made 
of  the  small  rooms  along  the  sides  of  the  atrium,,  after 
they  had  ceased  to  be  bedchambers,  we  do  not  know; 
they  served  perhaps  as  conversation  rooms,  private  parlors, 
and  drawing-rooms. 
200  The  Alae. — The  manner  in  Avhich  the  dlae,  or  wrings, 
were  formed  has  been  exphained  (§11)1);  they  w^ere  simply 
the  rectangular  recesses  left  on  the  right  and  left  of  the 
dtrliim^  when  the  smaller  rooms  on  the  sides  w^ere  walled  off. 
It  must  })e  remembered  that  they  were  entirely  open  to  the 
dfriiimy  and  formed  a  part  of  it,  perhaps  originally  furnish- 
ing additional  light  from  windows  in  their  outer  walls.  In 
them  were    kept   the   imd(/lnesj  as    the  wax  busts  of  those 


Ftourk  46. 
Krrxs  op  the  HorsK  of  tfik  Pokt  ix  Pompeii 


THE    ITOt^SE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


129 


u 


*   W  f 


ancestors  who  had  held  curule  oflices  were  called,  arranged  in 
cabinets  in  such  a  Avay  that,  by  the  help  of  cords  running 
from  one  to  another  and  of  inscriptions  under  each  of  them, 
their  relation  to  each  other  could  be  made  clear  and  their 
great  deeds  kept  in  mind.  Even  when  Koman  w^riters 
or  those  of  modern  times  speak  of  the  imdfiines  a.^  in  the 
(Itrifon,  it  is  the  dlae  that  are  intended. 

The  Tablinum.— The  probable  origin  of  the  fahJlnvm  has  201 
been  explained  above  (gliH)),  and  its  name  has  been  derived 
from  the  material  {fahulac,  ''planks^')  of  the  ''lean-to,''  per- 


FiouRE  47.    View  from  the  Atrium 


haps  a  summer  kitchen,  from  which  it  developed.  Others 
think  that  the  room  received  its  name  from  the  fact  that  in 
it  the  master  kept  his  account  books  {tabulae)  as  well  as  all 
his  business   and  private  papers.     He    kept   here  also   the 


130 


THE    PRIVATK     LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


moiu'V  cluist  or  stroii.i;- ]m)\  (^7/77^),  which  m  tlie-ohlcn  tiinr 
had  hiTii  chained  lothe  ll(X)r  oi'  the  d/ruon^  'dial  uuu\v  \hi^ 
room  ill  fact  liis  oWwo  or  study.  I\y  its  position  it  com- 
manded the  whole  house,  as  the  rooms  could  he  entered  only 
from  the  dtrimn  ov peristTjllfUH,  and  the  tabritunn  was  right 
between  them.      Tlu^  master  couhl  secure  entire  privacy  by 


KlGUKK  4S.      THK   PKKISTYLK   FK<)M    HorsK   IN   POMPKII 

closing  the  folding  doors  which  cut  off  the  private  court,  or 
by  pulling  the  curtains  across  the  opening  into  the  great  hall. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  tabUnum  was  left  open,  the  guest 
entering  the  ostiiim  must  have  had  a  charming  vista,  com- 
manding at  a  glance  all  the  public  and  semi-public  parts  of 
tlie  house  (Fig.  47).  Even  when  the  tabUnum  was  closed, 
there  was  free  passage  from  the  front  of  the  house  to  the 
rear  through  the  short  corridor  (§102)  by  the  side  of  the 
lablhuftH.      It  should  be  noticed  that   there  was  oidy  one 


THE     HOl'SE    AND    ITS    FIRNTTIRE 


131 


such  passage,  thougli    the  older  authorities  assert  thai   there 
were  two. 

The  Peristyle. — The  jfen's/T/liufN  or  jwris/T/lfnn  w^as  202 
adopted,  as  we  have  seen  (§192),  from  the  (Jreeks,  but 
despite  the  way  in  which  the  Koman  clung  to  the  customs  of 
his  fathers  it  was  not  long  in  becoming  the  more  important 
of  the  two  main  sections  of  the  house.  AVe  must  think  of  a 
spacious  court  (Fig.  48)  open  to  the  sky,  but  surrounded  by 
a  continuous  row  of  buildings,  or  rather  rooms,  for  the 
])uildings  soon  became  one,  all  facing  it  and  having  doors 
and  latticed  windows  opening  upon  it.  All  these  buildings 
had  covered  porches  on  the  side  next  the  court  (Fig.  41)), 
and  these  porches  form- 
ing an  unbroken  colon- 
nade on  the  four  sides 
were  strictlv  the  peri- 
style,  though  the  name 
came  to  be  used  of  the 
whole  section  of  the 
house,  including  court, 
colonnade,  and  surround- 
inor  rooms.  The  court 
was  much  more  open  to 
the  sun  than  the  dfrhfm, 
and  all  sorts  of  rare  and 

beautiful  plants  and  flowers  bloomed  and  nourished  in  it,  pro- 
tected by  the  walls  from  cold  winds.  Fountains  and  statuary 
adorned  the  middle  part;  the  colonnade  furnished  cool  or 
sunny  promenades,  no  matter  what  the  time  of  day  or  the 
season  of  the  year.  Loving  the  open  air  and  the  charms  of 
nature  as  the  Romans  did,  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  soon 
made  the  peristyle  the  center  of  their  domestic  hfe  in  all  the 
houses  of  the  better  class,  and  reserved  the  dfrium  for  the 
more  formal  functions  which  their  political  and  pu])lic 
position    demanded   (SI 9?).     It  must  be  remem])ered  that 


FiouRK  45).     Rook  of  Pkrtstylk 


132 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    KOMAXR 


ri  ^>i 


FioiTRE  50.    Kitchen  Rancje 


tliore   was  often  a  garden  beliind   tlu'   i)eristyU\  and   there 

was  also  very  commonly  a  direct  connection  with  the  street. 

203        Private  Rooms.— ^Fhe  rooms  snrronnding  the  conrt  varied 

so  much  with  the  means  and  tastes  of  the  owners  of  the 

houses    that   we   can    hardly    do 
more  than  give   a   list  of   those 
most    frequently    mentioned    in 
literature.      It   is    important   to 
remember  that  in  the  town  house 
all    these    rooms    received    their 
light  hy  day  from  the  court  (§103), 
while  in  the  country  there  may 
well  have  been  windows  and  doors 
in  the  exterior  wall  (^^101).     First  in  importance  comes  the 
kitchen  {ruUna),  placed  on  the  side  of  the  court  opposite  the 
t((h1uu(nf.     It  was  sup])lied  with  an  open   fireplace  for  roast- 
ing and  boiling,  and  with  a  stove  (Fig.  50)  not  uidike  the 
charcoal     affairs     still    used     in 
Europe.     Xear  it  was  the  bakery, 
if  the  mansion  required  one,  sup- 
phed  with  an  oven.     Near  it,  too, 
was  the  bathhouse  {hltrhia)  with 
the  necessary  closet,  in  order  that 
all  might  use  the  same  connec- 
tion with  the  sewer  (Fig.  51).     If 
the  house  had  a  stable,  it  was  also 
put  near  the  kitchen,   as   nowa- 
davs  in  Latin  countries. 
204        The  dhiing-room  {trlrUnium) 
may    be    mentioned    next.      It 

was  not  necessarily  in  immediate  juxtaposition  to  the 
kitchen,  because  the  army  of  slaves  (§U1))  made  its  position 
of  little  importance  so  far  as  convenience  was  concerned.  It 
was  customary  to  have  several  trldlnia  for  use  at  different 
seasons  of  the  vear,  in  order  that  the  room  might  be  warmed 


FlOlTRR  51.     Latrtna 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


133 


by  the   sun    in    winter,   and    in    summer    escape  its    rays. 
Vitruvius  thought  that  its  length  should  be  twice  its  breadth, 
but    the    ruins 
show    no    fixed 
proportions.  The 
liomans  were  so 
foiid   of    the   air 
and  the  sky  that 
the   court    must 
have  often  served 
as  a  dining-room, 
and  Horace   has 
left  us  a  charm- 
ing picture  of  the 
master    di  ni  ng 
under    an    arl)or 
attended  bv  a 
single  slave. 
Such  an  outdoor 

dining  -  room    is 
found  in  the  so-called  House  of  8allust  at  Pompeii  (Fig.  52). 
The  sleeping-rooms   {cuhicula)  were    not  considered  so  205 

important  l)y  the  liomans  as  by 
us,  for  the  reason,  probably,  that 
they  were  used  merely  to  sleep 
in  and  not  for  living-rooms  as 
well.     They  were  very  small  and 
the  furniture  was  scant  (Fig.  53) 
in  even  the  best  houses.     Some 
of  these  seem  to  have  had  ante- 
rooms   in  connection  with    the 
cuUcnJa,  which    were   probably 
occupied  by  attendants  (§150),   and   hi  even   the   ordinary 
houses  there  was  often  a  recess  for  the  bed.     Some  of  the 
bedrooms  seem   to   have  been  used  merely  for  the  midday 


Figure  5i.     Dining-room  in  Court 


'':',     \- 


^"1-     -^.T,^, ^ „     ,^-,,       ,... 


Figure  6:i.    Bedroom 


134 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


206 


siesta  (§1'^*^),  iincl  these  were  naturally  situated  in  the  cool- 
est part  of  the  court;  they  were  called  ciibicula  diurna. 
The  others  were  called  by  way  of  distinction  cubirnla  noc- 

tnrua  ov  (Jorinlfdria^ 
and  were  placed  so 
far  as  possible  on  the 
west  side  of  the  court 
in  order  that  they 
might  receive  the 
morning  s un.  It 
should  bo  remem- 
bered that  in  the  best 
houses  the  l)edrooms 
were  preferably  in  the 
second  story  of  the 
peristyle. 

A  library  (hibllo- 
f  If  era)  had  a  place  in 
the  house  of  every 
Koman  of  education. 
Collections  of  books 
were  large  as  well  as 
niunerous,  and  were 
made  then  as  now  by 
persons  even  who 
cared  nothing  about 
their  contents.  The 
books  or  rolls,  which 
will  be  described 
later,  were  kept  in 
cases  or  cabinets 
arouiul  the  walls,  and  in  one  lil)rary  discovered  in  llercu- 
laneinn  an  additional  rectangular  case  occupied  the  middle 
of  the  room.  It  was  customarv  to  decorate  the  room  with 
statues  of  ^linerva  and  the  Pluses,  and  also  with  the  busts 


FiGURK  54.    Chapel  in  House 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


135 


and  portraits  of  distinguished  men.    Yitruvius  recommends 
an  eastern  aspect  for  the  blbUotheca,  probably  to  guard  against 

dampness. 

Besides  these  rooms,  which  nuist  have  been  found  in  all  207 
good  houses,  there  were  others  of  less  importance,  some  of 
which  were  so  rare  that  we  scarcely  know  their  uses.     The 
sacrarluni  was  a  private  chapel  (Fig.  54)  in  which  the  images 
of  the  gods  were  kept,  acts  of  worship  performed,  and  sacri- 
fices offered.      Tlie  Lar  or  tutelary  divinity  of    the   house 
seems,  however,  to  have  retained  his   ancient  place   in   the 
(If riff Hf.     The  orrj  were  halls  or  saloons,  corresponding  per- 
haps to  our  parlM's  and  drawing-rooms,  used  occasionally,  it 
imiy  be,  for  banipiet  halls.      'V\\q  ej-edrae  Avere  rooms  supplied 
with  permanent  seats  which ^^eem  to  have  been  used  for  lec- 
tures and  similar  entertainments. ^    The  sdldriufff  was  a  place 
to  bask  in  the  sun,  sometimes  a  terrace,  often  the  fiat  roof  of 
the  house,  which  was  then  covered  with  earth  and  laid  out 
like  a  garden  and  made  beautiful  with   fiowers  and  shrubs. 
Besides  these  there  were,  of  course,  sculleries,  i)antries,  and 
storerooms.     The  slaves  had  to  have  their  quarters  {cellae 
.^ercdrfffu),  in  which  they  were  packed  as  closely  as  possible. 
Cellars  under  the  houses  seem  to  have  been   rare,  though 
some  have  been  found  at  Pompeii. 

The  House  of  Pansa. — Finally  we  may  describe  a  house  208 
that  actually  existed,  taking  as  an  illustration  one  that  must 
have  belonged  to  a  wealthy  and  infiuential  man,  the  so-called 
House  of  Pansa  at  Pompeii  (Fig.  55;  and  see  also  Overbeck's 
Pompeii,   p.    3-^5;     Harper,    p.    541);     Becker,    II,    p.    -314; 
Smith,  1,  p.  <;si  ;  Schreiber,  LIIF,  \i\;  the  various  plans  are 
slightly  difi'erent).     11ie  house  occupied  an  entire  scjuare, 
facing'a  little  east  of  south.     Most  of  the  rooms  on  the  front 
and  sides  were  rented  out  for  shops  or  stores;  in  the  rear  was 
a  garden.     1^1^e  rooms   that  did   not  belong  to   the  house 
proper  are  shaded  in  the  plan  here  given.     The  f^fstibffhfm, 
marked  1  in  the  plan,  is  the  open  space  between  two  of  the 


13G 


THE    TRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    HUMANS 


shops  (§10:)).  Behiiul  it  is  the  nstium  (T),  with  a  figure  of 
a  dog  (§195)  in  mosaic,  opening  into  tlie  dtrium  (2,  2)  with 
three  rooms  on  each  side,  the  dlae  (2',  2')  being  in  the  regular 


FrauKK  55.    lIousH  of  Pans  a 


place,  the  rotnpluvium  (3)  in  the  middle,  the  tabUnum  (4) 
opposite  the  dsfium^  and  the  passage  on  the  eastern  side  (5). 
The  dtrium  is  of  the  Tuscaniciini  style  (§11)0),  and  is  paved 
with  concrete;  tlie  tabluium  and  the  passage  have  mosaic 
floors.  From  these,  steps  lead  down  into  the  court,  which  is 
lower  than  the  dtrium^  measures  05  by  50  feet,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  colonnade  with  sixteen  pillars.  There  are  two 
rooms  on  the  side  next  the  dtrium^  one  of  these  (d)  has 
been  called  the  hibliothecd  (§200),  because  a  manuscript  was 
fouiul  in  it,  but  its  purpose  is  uncertain;  the  other  (0')  was 
possibly  a  diniug-room.  The  court  has  two  projections 
(7',  7')  much  like  the  dJae^  which  have  been  called  exedrae 
(§207) ;  it  will  be  noticed  that  one  of  these  has  the  conve- 
nience of  an  exit  (§202)  to  the  street.  The  rooms  on  the 
west  and  the  small  room  on  the  east  can  not  be  definitely 
named.  The  large  room  on  the  east  (T)  is  the  main  diniug- 
room  (§204),  the  remains  of  the  dining  couches  being  marked 
on  the  plan.     The  kitchen  is  at  the  northwest  corner  (1:5), 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


137 


with  the  stable  (U)  next  to  it  (§20:), 
end);    off    the  kitchen    is   a   paved 
yard  (15)  with  a  gateway  into  the 
street  by  which  a  cart  could  enter. 
East  of  the  kitchen  and  yard  is  a 
narrow  passage  connecting  the  per- 
istyle with  the  garden  (§202).    East 
of  this  are  two  rooms,  the  larger  of 
which  (D)  is  one  of  the  most  impos- 
ing rooms  of  the  house,  3:3  by  24 
feet   in    size,  with    a  large  window 
(HUirdcd   1)V   a  low  balustrade,  and 
opening  into  the  garden.     This  was 
probably  an  iwcus  (§207).     In  the 
center  of  the  court  is  a  basin  about 
two  feet  deep,  the  rim  of  which  was 
once  decorated  with  figures  of  water 
plants  and  fish.     Along  the  whole 
north  end  of  the  house  ran  a  long 
veranda  (10,    10),    overlooking  the 
garden  (11,  11)  in  which  was  a  sort 
of  summer  house  (12).     The  house 
had   an  upper  story,  but  the  stairs 
leading   to    it    are    in    the    rented 
rooms,    suggesting    that   the  upper 
floor  was  not  occupied  by  Pansa's 

family. 

Of  the  rooms  facing  the  street  it 

will  be  noticed  that  one,  lightly 
shaded  in  the  plan,  is  connected 
with  the  dtrium;  it  was  probably 
used  for  some  business  conducted 
by  Pansa  himself  (§19:5,  end),  pos- 
sibly with  a  slave  (§l-4-l)  or  a  freed- 
man  (§175)  in  immediate  charge  of 


K 
O 
H 

O 


t«3 

w 

o 

B 
O 

> 
> 


O 


^rrnnrl 


I  I  LJ_ 


Kk 


'ji'c'.i 


•v^ 


t 


'111' 

|*'K 


!lW> 


I'l' 


;m  ,  <v 


liiyL 


|yi 


,.jj  riiiWlll'ilim 


M- 


^«i!»l«!l 


iTlinLt^' 


mumumaann 


209 


_--  J.-- 


^i 


138 


THE    I'RIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


it.  Of  the  others  the  suites  on  the  east  side  (A,  B)  seem  to 
have  been  rented  out  as  living  apartments.  The  others  were 
sliops  and  stores.  The  four  connected  rooms  on  the  west, 
near  the  front,  seem  to  have  been  a  hirge  bakery;  the  room 
marked  C  was  the  salesroom,  with  a  large  room  opening  oif 
of  it  containing  three  stone  mills,  troughs  for  kneading 
the  dough,  a  water  tap  with  sink,  and  a  recessed  oven. 
The  uses  of  the  others  are  uncertain.  The  section  plan 
(Fig.  50)  represents  the  appearance  of  the  house  if  all 
were  cut  away  on  one  side  of  a  line  drawn  from  front 
to  rear  through  the  middle  of  the  house.  It  is,  of  course, 
largely  conjectural,  but  gives  a  clear  idea  of  the  general 
Avav  in  which  the  division  walls  and  roof  must  have  been 
arranged. 
210  The  Walls. — The  materials  of  which  the  wall  {paries) 
was  composed  varied  with  the  time,  the  place,  and  the  cost  of 
transportation.  Stone  and  unburned  l)ri(*ks  {lafpre.^  rrudl) 
were  the  earliest  materials  used  in  Italy,  as  almost  every- 

w  here  else,  timber 
being  employed  for 
merely  temporary 
structures,  as  in  the 
addition  (§100)  from 
which  the  tabUnum 
developed.  For  pri- 
vate houses  in  very 
carlv  times  and  for 
public  buildings  in  all 
times,  walls  of  dressed 
stone  (ppa,^  qmidrd' 
tut/))  were  laid  in  reg- 
ular courses,  precisely 
as  in  modern  times  (Fig.  5T).  Over  the  wall  was  spread  a  coat- 
ing of  tine  nuirble  stucco  for  decorative  ])urposes,  which  gave 
it  a  finish   of  dazzling  wliite.     For  less  pretiMitious  houses, 


Fku'rk  57.     Wall  of  Romtlis 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


139 


not  for  public  buildings,  the  sun-dried  bricks  were  largely 
used  up  to  about  the  beginning  of    the  first  century  B.C. 
These,   too,   were  covered  with  the  stucco,   for  protection 
against  the  weather  as  well  as  for  decoration,  but  even  the 
hard  stucco  has  not  pre- 
served walls  of  this  per- 
ishable nniterial  to   our 
times.   In  classical  times 
a  new  material  had  come 
into    use,     better     than 
either    brick    or    stone, 
cheaper,    more  durable, 
more  easily  worked  and 
transported,   which   was 
employed  almost  exclu- 
sively for  private  houses, 
and  very  generally    for 
public  buildings.     Walls 
constructed  hi   the  new 
way  {(fj)ns  caementicliun) 
are  variously    called 

''rubble-work''  or  "concrete"  in  our  books  of  reference,  but 
neither  term  is  quite  descriptive;  the  opus  caementlrltua  was 
not  laid  in  courses,  as  is  our  rubble-work,  while  on  the  other 
hand  larger  stones  were  used  in  it  than  in  the  concrete  of 
which  walls  for  buildings  are  now  constructed. 

Paries  Caementicius.— The  materials  varied  with  the  211 
place.  At  Kome  lime  and  volcanic  ashes  (lapis  PnteaJdnus) 
were  used  with  pieces  of  stone  as  large  or  larger  than  the 
fist.  Brickbats  sometimes  took  the  place  of  stone,  and  sand 
(§14())  that  of  the  volcanic  ashes;  potsherds  crushed  fine 
were  better  than  thQ  sand.  The  harder  the  stones  the  better 
the  concrete;  the  very  best  was  made  with  pieces  of  lava,  the 
material  with  which  the  roads  were  generally  paved.  The 
method  of  forming  the  concrete  walls  was  the  same  as  that 


FlGl'RK  .'>«. 

MKTHon  OF  Castinh  Concrkte  Walls 


140 


THE    PIirVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


of  modern  times,  familiar  to  us  all  in  the  construction  of 
sidewalks.  It  will  be  easily  understood  from  the  illustration 
(Fig.  58).  Upright  posts,  about  5  by  (>  inches  thick,  and  from 
10  to  15  feet  in  height,  were  fixed  about  3  feet  apart 
along  the  line  of  both  faces  of  the  intended  wall.  On  the 
outside  of  these  were  nailed  horizontally  boards,  10  or  12 
inches  wide,  overlapping  each  other.  Into  tlie  intermediate 
s])ace   the   semi-Huid    concrete   was   poured,    receiving   the 

imprint    of    posts    and     boards. 
When  the  concrete  had  hardened 
the  framework  was  removed  and 
placed  on  top  of  it  and  the  work 
continued     until    the    wall    had 
reached     the     required     height. 
AV^alls  made  in  this  way  varied  in 
thickness  from  a  seven-incli  par- 
tition wall  in  an  ordinary  house 
to  the  eighteen-foot  walls  of  the 
Pantheon  of  Agrippa.  They  were 
far    more     durable    than     stone 
walls,   which   might  be   removed 
stone   by  stone  with  little   more 
labor   than  w^as  required  to   put 
them  together;  the  concrete  ^vall 
was     a     single     slab     of     stone 
throughout  its  whole  extent,  and  large  parts  of  it  might  be 
cut  away  without  diminishing  the  strength  of  the  rest  in  the 
slightest  degree. 

212  Wall  Facings.— Impervious  to  the  weather  though  these 
walls  were,  they  were  usually  faced  with  stone  or  kiln-burned 
brick  {lateres  coctl).  The  stone  employed  was  usually  the 
soft  tufa,  not  neiirly  so  well  adapted  to  stand  the  weather  as 
the  concrete  itself.  The  earliest  fashion  was  to  take  bits  of 
stone  having  one  smooth  face  but  of  no  regular  size  or  shape 
and  arrange  them  with  tlie  smootli  faces  against  the  frame- 


FiGUKK  oU.    Wall  TAciNiis 


THE    HOUJ^E    AND    ITS    PURXTTrRE 


141 


work  as  fast  as  the  concrete  was  poured  in;  when  the  frame- 
work was  rc^moved  the  wall  presented  the  appearance  shown 
at  A  in  Fig.  59.  Such  a  wall  was  called  npnx  incertum.  In 
later  times  the  tufa  was  used  in  small  blocks  having  the  smooth 
face  square  and  of  a  uniform  size.  A  wall  so  faced  looked 
as  if  covered  with  a  net 

(15    in  Fig.   59)   and  was 

therefore  called  o/^^^s^  refl- 

culdtum.     A  section  at  a 

corner  is  shown  at  C.      In 

either   case    the  exterior 

face  of  the  wall  was  usu- 
ally covered  with  a  fine 

limestone     or     marble 

stucco,  which  gave  a  hard 

finish,  smooth  and  white. 

The  burned  bricks  were  FmiKKGo.  bkick:  fok  facing  wall 

triangular  in   shape,   but 

their  arrangement  and  appearance  can  ])e  more  easily  under- 
stood from  the  illustration  (Fig.  GO)  than  from  any  descrip- 
tion that  could  be  given  here.  It  must  be  noticed  that  there 
were  no  walls  made  of  lateres  coctl  alone,  even  the  thm 
partition  walls  having  a  core  of  concrete. 

Floors  and  Ceilings.— In  the  poorer  houses  the  floor  {solim)  213 
of  the  first  story  was  made  by  smoothing  the  ground  between 
the  walls,  covering  it  thickly  with  small  pieces  of  stone,  bricks, 
tile  and  potsherds,  and  pounding  all  down  solidly  and  smoothly 
with  a  heavy  rammer  {fistiica).      Such  a  floor  was  called  pan- 
mentnm,  and  the  name  came  gradually  to  be  used  of  floors 
of  all  kinds.     In  houses  of  a  better  sort  the  floor  was  made 
of  stone  slabs  fitted  smoothly  together.     The  more  preten- 
tious houses  had  concrete  floors,  made  as  has  been  described. 
Floors  of  upper  stories  were  sometimes  made  of  wood,  but 
concrete  was  used  here,  too,  poured  over  a  temporary  floor- 
ing of  wood.     Such  a  floor  was   very  heavy,  and    required 


142 


THK     PTUVATE     IJFE    OF    TTTF     RO>fANS 


THE    HOUSE    ANT)    ITS    ErilNTTrKE 


14:^ 


Figure  (U.    Hit  <»f  KoMi'Lrs 


stroiiii:  walls  to  .sui)j)ort  it;  exiunples  are  2)reservu(l  of  the 
thickness  of  eiirliteeii  inches  und  a  spun  of  twenty  feet.  A 
lloor  of  this  kind  made  a  perfect  ceilinc:  for  tlie  room  below, 

re(|uiring  only  a  linish  of  stucco. 
Other  ceilings  were  made  much 
as  they  are  now,  laths  being 
nailed  on  the  stringers  or  rafters 
and  covered  with  mortar  and 
stucco. 

Roofs. — The   construction  of 
the  roofs  {iect<()  differed  very  lit- 
tle from  the  modern  method,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  illustration 
shown  in  §100.     They  varied  as  mucli  as  ours  do  in  shape, 
some  being  flat,  others  sloping  in  two   directions,  others  in 
four.     In  the  most  ancient  times  the  covering  was  a  thatch 
of  straw,  as  in  the  so-called  hut  of  Komulus  {casa  Rfmiull) 
on  the  Palatine  Ilill  preserved  even   under  the  Empire  as  a 
relic  of  the  past  (Fig.  01).     Shingles  followed  the  straw,  only 
to  give  place   in  turn  to  tiles.     These  were  at  flrst  flat,  like 
our  shingles,  but  were  later  made  with   a  flange  on  each  side 
(Fig.  (r3)  in  such  a  way  that 
the  lower  part  of  one  would 
slip  into  the  upper  part  of 
the  one  below  it  on  the  roof. 
The  tiles  (fpf/ffhfe)  w^ere  laid 
side  by  side  and  the  flanges 
covered  by  other  tiles,  called 
imbrices  (Fig.  63)    inverted 
over  them.     Gutters  also  of 
tile  ran  along  the  eaves  to 
conduct  the  water  into  cis- 
terns, if  it  was  needed  for 

domestic  purposes.     The  appearance  of  the  completed  roof  is 
shown  in  Fig.  49,  ^'iiVl. 


FlOrRK  02.     TlLK  FOR  "Roop 


Fkutrk  r.3.    TiLK  Roof 


The  Doors.-The  "nonian   doorway,   like   our   ow..,    hn.l  215 
four  parts:  the  threshoM    (/?//">'),  tli«  '^o  jauibs  {posfe.), 
and  the  Ih.tel  {Innr.   s..prr,nn).     Tlie  lintel  whs  always  oi   a 
siiicrle  piece  of  Htonc  and 
peculiarly  massive.     The 
doors  were    exactly  like 
those   of    modem   times, 
except  in  the  matter  of 
hinges,  for  while  the  \\o- 
mans  had  hinges  like  ours 
they  did  not  use  them  on 
their  doors.      The  door- 
hinge  was  really  a  cylin- 

der  of  hard  wood,  a  little  longer   than  the   door  and   oi   a 
diameter,  a  little  greater  than  the  thickness  of  the  door,  ter- 
,nh>ating  above  an.l  below  in  pivots.     These  pivots  turned  m 
sockets  made  to  receive  them  in  the  threshold  and  l.n  el.    1  o 
this  cylinder  the  door  was  mortised,their  con.bined  weight  com- 
iu.^  npon  the  lower  piv.,t.     The  cut  ( Fig.  -U )  makes  th,s  clear, 
and  reminds  one  of  an  old-fashioned  ho.nemade  gate.      I  he 
comedies  are  full  of  references  to  the  creaking  of  these  doors. 
The  outer  door  of  the  house  was  properly  called^^'^'"'',  216 
an  inner  door  o^tinnu  hut  the  two  words  came 
to  he  used  indiscrimimitely,  ami  the  latter  was 
even    applied    to    the    whole    entrance   (gl '.••.). 
Double   doors  were  called  fovcx.  and  the  back 
door,  usuallv  opening  into  a  garden  (;^-^<'S),  was 
called  the  posllnun.     The  doors  opened  inwards 
and  those  in  the  outer  wall   uere  supplied  witli 
holts    {pessum   aud    l)ars    {^erm^.     Locks   and 
keys  by  which  the  doors  could  be  fastened  from 
without  were  not  unknown,  but  were  very  heavy  and  clumsy. 
Finally  it  should  be  noticed  that  in  the  interiors  ot  private 
houses  doors  .-ere  not  nearly  so  common  as  now,  the  Lomans 
preferring  portieres  {c'ehi.  ((nhica). 


FlOURK  64. 

Door  of  Ro- 

M.\N  llolSK 


I 


144. 


THK    IMUVATK    LIFE    oF    TTIK    KoMAXS 


THE    HOUSE    AM)    ITS    FURNITIRE 


145 


ir^riii;;;^'''^' vr-r. 


217  The  Windows. — In  the  principul  rooms  of  thv  house  the 
windows  opened  on  the  eoiirt,  as  has  been  seen,  and  it  niav 
be  set  down  as  a  rule  tliat  in  rooms  situated  on  the  lirst  lioor 
and  used  for  domestic  purposes  there  were  no  windows 
o|)ening  on  tlie  street.  In  the  upper  floors  there  must  have 
been  windows  on  tlie  street  in  such  apartments  as  liad  no 
outlook  on  the  court,  as  in  those  for  example  above  the 
rented  rooms  in  the  House  of  Pansa  (§208).  Country  houses 
may  also  have  had  outside  windows  in  the  first  story  (§20.3). 
All  the   windows  {ff>nesfr((e)  were  small   (Fig.   G5),   hardly 

larger  than  three  feet  by  tw^o.     Some  were 
provided  with  shutters,  which  were  made  to 
slide  backward  and  forward  in  a  frame-w^ork 
on  the  outside  of  the  wall.     These  shutters 
were   sometimes    in    two    parts    moving   in 
op[)osite  directions,  and    wlien    closed   were 
said  to  be    ifuirtue.      Other  windows    were 
latticed,  and  others  still  were  covered  with 
a  tine  network  to  keep  out  mice  and  other 
objectionable   animals.       Glass   was   known 
to  the   Romans  of  the  Empire  but  was   too  expensive  for 
general   use.      Talc  and  other   translucent    materials    were 
also  employed  in  window  frames  as  a  protection  against  cold, 
but  onlv  in  verv  rare  instances. 
218        Heating.— Even  in  the  mild  climate  of  Italy  the  houses 
must  often  have  been  too  cold  for  comfort.      On  merelv  chillv 
days  the  occupants  proba})ly  contented  themselves  with  mov- 
ing into  rooms  warmed  by  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  (§204), 
or  with  wearing  wraps  or  heavier  clothing.      In  the  more 
severe  weather  of  actual  winter  they  used  charcoal  stoves  or 
])raziers  of  the  sort   that  is  still   used  in   the  countries  of 
southern  Europe.     They  were  merely  metal  boxes  (Fig.  GO) 
in  which  hot  coals  could  be  put,  with  legs  to  keep  the  floors 
from  injury  and    handles  by  which  they  could  be   carried 
from  room  to  room.     They  were  called /ocw/i.     The  wealthy 


^tv^-i;'i;'^'^>;^'^'^^ 


WIN' now 


I 


\ 


I 


\ 


219 


had  furnaces  resembling  ours  under  their  houses,  the  heat 
being  carried  to  the  rooms  by  tile  pipes;    in  some  instances 
the  partitions  and  floors  seem  to  have  been  made  of  hollow 
tiles,   through   which  the  hot    air 
circulated,  warming  the  rooms 
without   being  admitted  to  them. 
These  furnaces  had  chimneys,  but 
furnaces  were  seldom  used. 

Water    Supply.— All    the    im- 
.  portant  towns  of  Italy  had  abun- 
dant supplies  of  water  piped  from 
hills  and  brought  sometimes  from 
a  considerable  distance.     The  Ro- 
mans' aqueducts  were  among  their 
most  stupendous  and  most  success- 
ful works  of  engineering.     Mains 
were  laid  down  the  middle  of  the 
streets  and  from  these  the  water 
was  piped  into  the  houses.     There 
was  often  a  tank  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  house,  from  which  the  water 
was  distributed  as  it  was  needed. 
It   was   not    usually   carried    into    figure  er,.  stove  for  heattnq 
many  of  the  rooms,  but  there  was 

always  a  jet  or  fountain  in  the  court  (§202),  in  the  bath- 
house, the  garden,  and  the  closet.  The  bathhouse  had  a 
separate  heating  apparatus  of  its  own,  which  kept  the  room 
or  rooms  at  the  desired  temperature  and  furnished  hot  water 

as  required. 

Decoration.— The  outside  of  the  house  was  left  severely  220 

plain,   the  walls  being  merely  covered   with  stucco,  as  we 

have  seen   (§212).     The  interior  was  decorated  to  suit  the 

tastes  and  means  of  the  owner,  not  even  the  poorer  houses 

lacking  charming  effects  in  this   direction.      At   first   the 

stucco-finished  walls  were  merely  marked  otf  into  rectangular 


I 


14-G 


TUK    IMilVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    KOMAXS 


ptinels  {((harl)^  which  were  painted  deep,  rich  colors,  reds 
and  yellows  predominating.  Then  in  the  middle  of  these 
panels  simple  center-pieces  were  2)ainted  and  the  whole  sur- 
rounded with  the  most  brilliant  arabesques.  Then  came 
elaborate  pictures,  figures,  interiors,  landscapes,  etc.,  of 
large  size  and  most  skillfully  executed,  all  painted  directly 
upon  the  wall,  as  in  some  of  our  public  buildings  to-day. 
Illustrations  of  these  decorations  mav  be  found  in  ]?aumeister 
II,  L,  aiul  LI,  and  in  colors  in  ( hisman  IX-XI,  Kelsey  XL  A 
little  later  the  walls  began  to  be  covered  with  panels  of  thin 
slabs  of  marble  with   a  baseboard  and   cornice.     Beautiful 


FiGURK  G7.    Mosaic  Threshold 

effects  were  produced  by  combining  marbles  of  different 
tints,  and  the  Romans  ransacked  the  world  for  striking 
colors.  Later  still  came  raised  figures  of  stucco  work, 
enriched  with  gold  and  colors,  and  mosaic  work,  chiefly  of 
minute  pieces  of  colored  glass  which  had  a  jewel-like  effect. 
221  The  doors  and  doorways  gave  opportunities  for  treat- 
ment equally  artistic.  The  doors  were  richly  paneled 
and  carved,  or  were  plated  with  bronze,  or  made  of  solid 
bronze.  The  threshold  was  often  of  mosaic  (see  the  exam- 
ple from  Pompeii  in  Fig.  G7).  The  pastes  were  sheathed 
with  marble  elaborately  carved,  as  in  the  example  from 
Pompeii,  shown  in  Fig.  08.  The  floors  were  covered  with 
marble  tiles  arranged  in  geometrical  figures  with  contrast- 
ing colors,  much  as  they  are  now  in  public  buildings,  or 
with  mosaic  pictures  only  less  beautiful  than  those  upon 
the  walls.  The  most  famous  of  these,  "Darius  at  the  Battle 
of  Issus,"  is  shown  in  black  and  white  in  all  our  reference 


fi 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


147 


d 


d^: 


'^■' 


f^^ 


irrm^.:i,^KM,^/^i 


FiorRK  68. 
Carvkd   Doorway 


books  (best  in  Baumeister  under  Momil, 
Fig.  1000,  and  in  colors  in  Overbeck  after 
p.  612).  It  measures  sixteen  feet  by 
eight,  but  despite  its  size  has  no  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  separate  pieces  to 
each  square  inch.  The  ceilings  were  often 
barrel-vaulted  and  painted  brilliant  colors, 
or  were  divided  into  panels  {lacus,  lacil- 
Hae),  deeply  sunk,  by  heavy  intersecting 
beams  of  wood  or  marble,  and  then  dec- 
orated in  the  most  elaborate  manner  with 
raised  stucco  work,  or  gold  or  ivory,  or 
with  bronze  plates  heavily  gilded.^ 

Furniture.— Our  knowledge  of  Roman  222 
furniture  is  largely  indirect,  because  only 
such  articles  have  come  down  to  us  as 
Avere  made  of  stone  or  metal.  Fortu- 
nately the  secondary  sources  are  abundant 
and  good.  Many  articles  are  inciden- 
tally described  in  works  of  literature, 
many    are    shown    in    the  wall  paintings 

^The  magnificence  of  some  of  the  great 
houses,  even  in  RepubUcan  times,  may  be 
inferred  from  the  ])rices  paid  for  them.  Cicero 
paid  about  §140,000  for  his;  the  consul  Mes- 
sala  tlie  same  price  for  his;  Clodius  $600,000 
for  his,  the  most  costly  known  to  us.  All 
these  were  on  the  Palatine  Hill,  wliere  ground 
was  costly,  too. 


148 


THP:    private    i.IFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


14-9 


mentioned  above  (g"3*20),  and  some  have  been  restored  from 
casts  taken  in  the  hardened  ashes  of  Pom})eii  and  lleren- 
hmeum.  In  general  we  may  say  that  tlie  Romans  had  very 
few  articles  of  furniture  in  their  house's,  and  that  they  cared 
less  for  comfort,  not  to  say  luxurious  ease,  than  they  did 
for  costly  materials,  fine  workmatisiiip,  and  artistic  forms. 
The  mansions  on  the  Tahiti  no  were  enriched  with  all  the 
spoils  of  (ireece  and  Asia,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
there  was  a  comfortable  bed  within  the  walls  of  Eome. 

223  Principal  Articles. — Many  of  the  most  common  and  use- 
fid  articles  of  modern  furniture  were  entirely  unknown  to 
the  iiomans.  No  mirrors  hung  on  their  walls,  they  had  no 
desks  or  vv^riting  tables,  no  dressers  or  chiffoniers,  no  glass- 
doored  cabinets  for  the  display  of  bric-a-bra(3,  tableware,  or 
books,  no  mantels,  no  hat-racks  even.  The  ])ri]U'ipal  articles 
found  in  even  the  best  houses  were  couches  or  beds,  chairs, 
tables,  and  lamps.  If  to  these  we  add  chests  or  cabinets,  an 
occasional  brazier  (i<-2 18),  and  still  rarer  water-clock,  we 
shall  have  evervthini''  that  can  be  called  furniture  except 
tableware  and  kitchen  utensils.  Still  it  must  not  be  thought 
that  their  rooms  presented  a  desolate  or  dreary  a})pearance. 
When  one  considers  the  decorations  (;^>5'^-^^  :^2I),  the  stately 
pomp  of  the  ufruim  (§1DS),  and  the  rare  beauty  of  the 
peristyle  (^20-2),  it  is  evident  that  a  very  few  articles  of  real 
artistic  excellence  were  more  in  keeping  with  them  than 
Avould  have  been  the  litter  and  jumble  that  we  now  think 
necessary  in  our  rooms. 

224  The  Couches. — The  couch  (Jerfiis^  lertulus)  was  found 
everywhere  in  the  Roman  house,  a  sofa  by  day,  a  bed  l)y 
night.  In  its  simplest  form  it  consisted  of  a  frame  of  wood 
w^ith  straps  across  the  top  on  which  was  laid  a  mattress. 
At  one  end  there  was  an  arm,  as  in  the  case  of  our  sofas; 
sometimes  there  was  an  arm  at  each  end,  and  a  back  besides. 
It  was  always  provided  with  pillows  and  rugs  or  coverlets. 
The  mattress  was  originally  stutfed  with  straw,  but  this  gave 


FiGURK  69.    Thk  Lectus 


place  to  wool  and  even  feathers.     In  some  of  the  bedrooms 
of   l\nni)eii  the  frame  seems  to  have  been  lacking,  the  mat- 
tress being  laid  on  a  support  built 
up  from  the  floor  (§205).     The 
couches  used  for  beds    seem    to 
have  l)een  larger  than  those  used 
as  sofas,  and  they  were  so  high 
that  stools  (Fig.  69)  or  even  steps 
were  necessary  accompaniments. 
As  a  sofa  the  lertiis  was  used  in 
the  library  for  reading  and  writ- 

ing,  the  student  supporting  himself  on  the  left  arm  and  hold- 
ing the  book  or  writing  with  the  right  hand.  In  the  dining- 
room  it  had  a  permanent  place,  as  will  be  described  later.  Its 
honorary  position  in  the  great  hall  has  been  already  mentioned 
(gliiD).  It  will  1)0  seen  that  the  led  us  could  be  made  highly 
oniamental.  The  legs  and  arms  were  carved  or  nuide  of 
costly  woods,  or  inlaid  or  plated  with  tortoise-shell  or  the 
precious  metals.  We  even  read  of  frames  of  solid  silver. 
The  coverings  were  often  made  of  the  finest  fabrics,  dyed  the 
most  brilliant  colors  and  worked  with  figures  of  gold. 

The  Chairs.— ^rhe  primitive  form  of  seat  {sedllv)  among  the  225 

Romans  as  elsewhere  was  the  stool  or  bench 
with  four  i)eri)e!idioulaT  legs  and  lu)  back. 
The  remarkable  thing  is  that  it  did  not  give 
place  to  something  better  as  soon  as  means 
permitted.   The  stool  {sdla)  was  the  ordinary 
seat  for  one  person    (Fig.  70),  used  by  men 
and  women  resting  or  working,  and  by  chd- 
dren  and  slaves  at  their  meals  as  well.     The 
bench   {subscUiun))   ditfered  from  the  stool 
oidy  in  accommodating  more  than  one  per- 
son.    It  was  used  by  senators  in  the  curia, 
by  the  jurors  in  the  courts,  and  by  boys  in  the  school  (§120), 
as  well  as  in  private  houses.     A  special  form  of    the  sella 


Fku'kk  7n. 
The  Sella 


150 


rv 


THE    ]»KIVATE    LIFP:    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FrRNTTUKE 


151 


226 


Figure  71.    Curulk  Chairs 


was  the  famous  curule  chair  (^ella  cur  fills),  having  curved 
legs  of  ivory  (Fig.  71).     The  curule  chair  foklecl  up  like  our 

camp-stools  for  convenience 
of  carriage  aiul  had  straps 
across  the  top  to  support  the 
cushion  which  formed  the 
seat. 

The  first  improvement 
upon  the,sW/r^  was  the6t>//?r///, 
a  stiff,  straight,  high-backed 
chair  with  solid  arms,  looking 
as  if  cut  from  a  single  block 
of  wood  (Fig.  72) ,  and  so  high 
that  a  footstool  was  as  necessary  with  it  as  with  a  ])ed  (g^'^-l). 
Poets  represented  gods  and  kings  as  seated  in  such  a  chair, 
and  it  was  kept  in  the  dlruim  for  the  use  of  the 
patron  when  he  received  his  clients  (§§18'2, 
198).     Lastly,   we    find  the  cathedra^  a  chair 

without  arms,  l)ut 
with  a  curved  l)ack 
(Fig.  78)  some- 
times fixed  at  an 
easy  angle  {rathe' 
dra  sujfuui),  the 
only  approximation  to  a  coni- 
fortable  seat  that  the  Iiomans 
knew.  It  was  at  first  used  by 
women  only,  being  regarded  as 
too  luxurious  for  men,  but  finally 
came  into  general  use.  Its  em- 
ployment by  teachers  in  the 
s(*hools  of  rhetoric  (glL"))  gave 
rise  to  the  express io]w\r  m///^rZ/77, 
applied  to  authoritative  utterances  of  every  kind,  aiul  its 
use  by  bishops   explains   our  word   cathedral.      Neither  the 


Fkukk  72. 
TlIK  JSoLirM 


FKUTitK  7:i.    Cathkdra 


\ 


FroriiK  74.    Mknsa  Dklphica 


solium  nor  the  cathedra  was  upholstered,  but  with  them  both 
were  used  cushions  and  coverings  as  Avith  the  lecfi,  and  they 
afforded    like    opportunities   for 
skillful  workmanship  and  lavish 

decoration. 

Tables.  — The    table    {mensa) 

was  the  most  important  article  of 

furniture   in    the    Ivoman    house 

whether  we  consider  its  numifold 

uses,  or  the  prices  often  paid  for 

certain   kinds.     They   varied   in 

form  and  construction  as  much 

as  our  own,  many  of  which  are 

copied  directly  from  Koman  mod- 
els.    All  sorts  of  materials  were 

used  for  their  supports  and  tops, 

stone,    wood,   solid   or  veneered, 

the  precious  metals,  probably  in  thin  plates  only.     The  most 

costly,   so  far  as   we  know,   were    the 
round  tables  made  from  cross-sections 
of  the  citrus-tree,  found  in  Africa.  The 
wood  was  beautifully  nuirked  and  single 
pieces  could  be  had  from  three  to  four 
feet  in    diameter.      For  one  of    these 
(Ucero  paid    $->0,oOO,    Asinius    Tollio 
$14,000,  King  Juba  §52,000,  and  the 
family  of   the    Cethegi   possessed  one 
valued  at  $(;o,000.     Special  names  were 
given  to  tables  of  certain  forms.     The 
mcnwpodiuai  was  a  table  or  stand  with 
but  one  support,  used  especially  to  hold 
a  lamp  or  toilet  articles.     The  ahams 
was  a  table  with  a  rectangular  top  hav- 
ing a  raised  rim  and  used   for  plate  and  dishes,  in  the  place 
of    the    modern    sideboard.     The   deljdiira    (.c.  wensa)  had 


227 


FlOlTHK  7o. 
AIJJI'STABLK  TAHl.li 


/ 


152 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    HOrSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


153 


three  legs,  as  shown  in  Fig.  74.  Tables  were  frequently 
made  with  adjustable  legs,  so  that  tlie  height  might  be 
altered;  the  mechanism  is  clearly  shown  in  the  cut  (Fig.  75). 
On  the  other  hand  tlie  permanent  tables  in  the  triclinia 
(§204)  were  often  built  up  from  the  floor  of  solid  masonry 
or  concrete,  having  tops  of  polished  stone  or  mosaic.  The 
table  gave  a  better  opportunity  than  even  the  couch  or  chair 
for  artistic  workmanship,  esjiecially  in  tlie  matter  of  carv- 
ing and  inlaying  the  legs  and  top. 
228  The  Lamps. — The  Koman  lamp  (lucerna)  was  essentially 
simple  enough,  merely  a  vessel  that  would  hold  oil  or  melted 


Figure  76.    Various  Forms  of  Lamps 


grease  with  a  few  threads  twisted  loosely  together  for  a  wick 
and  drawn  out  through  a  hole  in  the  cover  or  top  (Fig.  70). 
The  light  thus  furnished  must  have  been  verv  uncertain  and 
dim.     There  was  no  glass  to   keep  the  flame  steady,  much 


less  was  there  a  chimney  or  central  draft.     As  works  of  art, 
however,  they  were  exceedingly  beautiful,  those  of  the  cheap- 


Figure  77.     Bases  for  Lamps 

est  material  being  often  of  graceful  form  and  ])roportions, 
while  to  those  of  costly  material  the  skill  of  the  artist  in 
many  cases  must  have 
given  a  value  far  above 
that  of  the  rare  stones 
or  precious  metals  of 
which  they  were  made. 
Some  of  these 
lamps  (cf.  Fig.  7^)) 
Avere  intended  to  be 
carried  in  the  hand,  as 
shown  by  the  handles, 

others  to  be  suspended 

from    the    ceiling    by 

chains.      Others    still 

were    kept    on  tables 

expressly  made  for 

them,  as  the  monopo- 

dlu  (§'^2:)   commonly 

used  in  the  bedrooms, 

or  the  tripods    shown 

in  Fig.  ::.    For  light- 
ing the  public  rooms 

there  were,  besides 

these,  tall  stands,  like 

those  of  our  piano  lamps,  examples  of  which  may  be  seen  m 

the  last    cut  (Fig.   TS).      On  some   of  these,   several   lamps 


229 


Fk^ure  78.    Candelabra 


154 


THE    PRIVATE     LIFK    OF    THE    ROMANS 


l)erhiips  were  placed  at  a  time.  The  name  of  these  stands 
{candelabra)  shows  that  they  were  originally  intended  to  hold 
wax  or  tallow  candles  {ca/idelae)^  and  the  fact  that  these 
candles  were  supplanted  in  the  houses  of  the  rich  by  the 
smoking  and  ill-smelling  lamp  is  good  proof  that  the  Komans 
were  not  skilled  in  the  art  of  nniking  them.  Finally  it  may 
.  be  noticed  that  a  supply  of  torches  (/I^/r^^.s)  of  dry,  inilam- 
mable  wood,  often  soaked  in  oil  or  smeared  with  pitch,  was 
kept  near  the  outer  door  for  use  upon  the  streets. 

230  Chests  and   Cabinets. — Every    bouse    Avas    supplied    with 
chests    (drcae)    of   various  sizes  for   the   purpose   of   storing 

clothes  and  other 
articles  not  always 
in  use,  and  for  the 
safe  keeping  of  pa- 
pers, money,  and 
jewelry.  The  mate- 
rial w  a  s  usually 
wood,  often  bound 
with  iron  and  orna- 
mented with  hinges 
and  locks  of  bronze. 
The  smaller  drcae^ 
used  for  jewel  cases, 
were  often  made  of 
silver  or  even  gold. 
Of  most  importance,  perhaps,  was  the  strong  box  kept  in  the 
tahUmim  (g*201),  in  which  the  pttfer  fainilids  stored  his 
ready  money.  It  was  nuide  as  strong  as  possible  so  that  it 
could  not  easily  be  opened  by  force,  and  was  so  large  and 
heavy  that  it  could  not  be  carried  away  entire.  As  an  addi- 
tional precaution  it  was  sometimes  (chained  to  the  floor. 
This,  too,  was  often  riclily  (nirved  and  mounted,  as  is  seen  in 
the  illustration  from  Pompeii  (Fig.  70). 

231  The  cabinets  {anndria)    were  designed   for  similar  pur- 


FiGURE  79.    Strung  Box 


thf:  house  and  its  furniture 


1 55 


poses  and  made  of  similar  materials.  They  were  often 
divided  into  compartments  and  were  always  supplied  with 
hinges  and  locks.  Two  of  the  most  important  uses  of  these 
cabinets  have  been  mentioned  already:  in  the  library  (§2()(;) 
for  the  preserving  of  books  against  mice  and  men,  and  in  the 
dlae  (§200)  for  the  keeping  of  the  undgbies,  or  death-masks 
of  wax.  It  must  be  noticed  that  they  lacked  the  convenient 
glass  doors  of  the  cabinets  or  cases  that  we  use  for  books  and 
similar  things,  but  they  were  as  well  adapted  to  decorative 
purposes  as  the  other  articles  of  furniture  that  have  been 

mentioned. 

Other  Articles.— The  heating  stove,  or  Ijrazier,  has  been  232 
already  described  (§->lS).      It  was  at  best  a  poor  substitute 
for  the  poorest  modern  stove.     The  place  of  our  clock  was 
taken  in  the  court  or  garden  by  the  sun-dial   {sdldriam), 
such  as  is  often  seen  nowadays  in  our  parks,  which  measured 
the  hours  of  the  day  by  the  shadow  of  a  stick  or  pin.     It 
was  introduced  into  Rome  from  (ireece   in  2i\>^  B.C.     About 
a  century  later  the  water-clock  [clepsifdva)  was  also  borrowed 
from  the  Greeks,  a  more  useful  invention  l)ecause  it  marked 
the  hours  of  the  night  as  well  as  of  the  day  and  could  be 
used  in  the  house.     It  consisted  essentially  of  a  vessel  filled 
at  a  regular  time  with  water,  which  was  allowed  to  escape 
from  it  at  a  fixed  rate,  the  changing  level  marking  the  hours 
on  a  scale.     As  the  length  of  the  lloman  hours  varied  with 
the  season  of  the  year  and  the  fiow  of  the  water  with  the 
temperature,  the  apparatus  was  far  from  accurate.     Shak- 
spere^s  striking  of  the  clock  in  '^Julius  Caesar''  (11,  i,  U)->) 
is  an  anachronism.     Of  the  other  articles  sometimes  reckoned 
as   furniture,    the   tableware    and    kitchen    utensds,    some 
accoinit  will  be  given  elsewhere. 

The  Street.— It  is  evident  from  what  has  been  said  that  a  233 
residence  street  in  a  Uonian  town  must  have  l)een  severely 
plain  and  monotonous  in  its  appearance.     11ie  houses  were 
all  .of  practically  the  same  style,  they  were  finished  alike  m 


156 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


THE    HOUSE    AND    ITS    FURNITURE 


157 


stucco  (§212),  the  windows  were  few  and  in  the  upper  stories 
only,  there  were  no  hiwns  or  gardens,  there  was  nothing  in 


Figure  80.    A  Street  in  Pompeii 


short  to  lend  variety  or  to  please  the  eye,  excei)t  })erhaps  the 

decorations  of  tlie 
vestlhuJd  (§194),  or 
the  occasional  ex- 
tension of  one  story 
over  another  {inae- 
Hidiinm^  Fig.  80), 
or  a  public  fountain 
(Fig.  81).  The 
street  itself  was 
paved,  as  will  be 
explained  hereafter, 
and     was    supplied 

Figure  81.    A  Public  Fountain  ..i  j»       , 

With  a  lootway  on 
either  side  raised  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  above  its 
surface.      The  inconvenience  of  such   a  height  to   persons 


L. 


I 


crossing  from  one  footway  to  the  otlier  whs  relieved  by  step- 
ping-stones {pondcra)  of  the  same  height  tirmly  fixed  at  suit- 
able  distances   from   each  other   across  the  street.     These 
stepping-sto!ies   were  placed   at  convenient  points  on  each 
street,  not  merely  at  the  intersections  of  two  or  more  streets. 
They  were  usually  oval  in  shape,  had  iiat  tops,  and  measured 
about  three  feet  by  eighteen  inches,  the  longer  axis  being 
parallel  with  the  walk.     The  spaces  between  them  were  often 
cut  into  deep  ruts  by  the  wheels  of  vehicles,  the  distance 
between  the  ruts  showing  that  the  wheels  were  about  three 
feet    apart.      The     arrangement     of     the    stepping-stones 
is  shown  clearly  in  Fig.  82,  but  it  is  hard  to  see  how  the 
draft-cattle  managed  to  work  their  way  between  them. 


Figure  82.    Stepping-stones 


CTTAPTEK  VII 

DRESS  AND    PERSONAL  ORNAMENTS 

Reff:renc'Es:  Marqiumlt,  475-606;  Voi^t.  3!h*-885.  404-412;  Goll,  III.  189-310; 
Guhl  and  Koner,  728-747;  Kainsiiy,  5;)4-512;  Bliiiiiner,  I,  189-307;  Smith,  Harper, 
Rich,  under  toga,  txtiira,  sfola,  j)alfa,  and  the  other  Latin  words  in  the  text; 
Liibker,  under  Kleiflung;  Baumeister,  o74  f.,  1822-1846;  Pauly-Wissowa,  under 
calcel. 

234  From  the  earliest  to  the  latest  times  the  clothing  of  the 
Romans  was  very  simple,  consisting  ordinarily  of  two  or 
three  articles  only  besides  the  covering  of  the  feet.  These 
articles  varied  in  material,  style,  and  name  from  age  to  age, 
it  is  true,  but  were  practically  unchanged  during  the 
Kepublic  and  the  early  Empire.  The  mild  climate  of  Italy 
(§218)  and  the  hardening  effect  of  the  physical  exercise  of 
the  young  (§1(>T)  made  unnecessary  the  closely  fitting 
garments  to  which  we  are  accustomed,  while  contact  with 
the  Greeks  on  the  south  and  perhaps  the  Etruscans  on  the 
north  gave  the  Komans  a  taste  for  the  beautiful  that  found 
expressio!i  in  the  graceful  arrangement  of  their  loosely 
(lowing  robes.  The  clothing  of  men  and  women  dilfered 
much  less  than  in  modern  times,  but  it  will  be  convenient 
to  describe  their  garments  separately.  Each  article  was 
assigned  by  Latin  writers  to  one  of  two  classes  and  called 
from  the  w^ay  it  was  put  on  imiuttts  or  atitlctus.  To  the 
first  class  we  may  give  the  name  of  under  garments,  to 
the  second  outer  garments,  though  these  terms  very  inade- 
quately represent  the  Latin  words. 

235  The  Subligaculum. — ^'ext  the  person  was  worn  the  sub- 
llflilrnhiin,,  the  loin-cloth  familiar  to  us  in  pictures  of  ancient 
athktes  and  gladiators  (see  Fig.  151,  g;U4,  and  the  culprit  in 
Fig.  20,  §1U)),  or  perhaps  the  short  drawers  (trunks),  worn 

158 


DRESS    AND    VKRSONAL    ORXAMENTS 


159 


nowadavs  by  bathers  or  college  athletes.  We  are  told  that 
in  the  earliest  times  this  was  the  only  under  garment  worn 
by  the  Romans,  and  that  the  family  of  the  Cethegi  adhered 
to  this  ancient  practice  throughout  the  llepublic,  wearing 
the  toga  immediately  over  it.  This,  too,  was  done  by  indi- 
viduals who  wished  to  pose  as  the  champions  of  old-fashioned 
simplicity,  as  for  example  the  younger  Cato,  and  by  candi- 
dates for  public  office.  In  the  best  times,  however,  the  ^uh- 
lujdndum  was  worn  under  the  tunic  or  replaced  by  it. 

The  Tunic— The  tunic  was  also  adopted  in  very  early  236 
times  and  came  to  be  the  chief  article  of  the  kind  covered 
by  the  word  indittus.    It  was  a  plain  woolen 
shirt,  made  in  two  pieces,  back  and  front, 
sewed  together  at  the  sides,  and  resembled 
somewhat  the  modern  sweater.     It  had  very 
short  sleeves,   covering  hardly  half  of    the 
upper   arm,  as  shown  in   Fig.   83.     It  was 
long  enough  to  reach  from  the  neck  to  the 
calf,  but  if    the  Avearer  wished  for  greater 
freedom  for  his  limbs  he  could  shorten  it 
by  merely   pulling    it    through  a   girdle  or 
belt  worn  around  the  waist.      Tunics  with 
sleeves  reaching  to  the  wrists  {funlcae  manicdtae),  and  tunics 
falling  to  the  ankles  {funicae  idhlres)  were  not  unknown  in 
the  late  Kepublic,  but  w^ere  considered  unmanly  and  effem- 
inate. 

The    tunic    was  worn  in   the   house    without  any   outer  237 

garment  and  probably  without  a  girdle;  in  fact  it  came  to  be 
the  distinctive  house-dress  as  opposed  to  the  toga,  the  dress 
for  formal  occasions  only.  It  was  also  worn  with  nothing 
over  it  by  the  citizen  while  at  work,  but  he  never  appeared 
in  public  without  the  toga  over  it,  ami  even  then,  hidden  by 
the  toga  though  it  was,  good  form  required  the  wearing  of 
the  girdle  with  it.  Two  tunics  were  often  worn  {fioiffn 
interior,  or  subfumla,  and  fnidnt  e.rferior),  and  persons  who 


/ 


The  Tunic 


160 


THE    IMilVATK     LIFK    OF    TIIK    ROMANS 


DRESS    AND    l^ERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 


161 


suffered  from  the  cold,  as  did  Augustus  for  example,  might 
wear  a  larger  number  still  vvdien  the  cold  was  very  severe. 
The  tunics  intended  for  use  in  the  winter  were  probably 
thicker  and  warmer  than  those  worn  in  the  summer,  though 
l)oth  kinds  were  of  wool. 

238  The  tunic  of  the  ordinary  citizen  was  the  natural  color  of 
the  white  wool  of  which  it  was  made,  without  trimmings  or 
ornaments  of  any  kind.     Knights  and  senators,  on  the  other 

^  hand,  had  stripes  of  purple,  narrow  and  wide  respectively, 
running  from  the  shoulder  to  the  bottom  of  the  tunic  both 
beliind  and  in  front.  These  stripes  were  either  woven  in 
the  garment  or  sewed  upon  it.  From  them  the  tunic  of  the 
krught  was  (tailed  tumca  aiigustl  clan  {ov  august  i  eld  via), 
and  that  of  the  senator  Idtl  cldvi  (or  Idtirldvia),  Some 
authorities  think  that  the  badge  of  the  senatorial  tunic  was  a 

V  single  broad  stripe  running  down  the  middle  of  the  garment 
in  front  and  behind,  but  unfortunately  no  picture  has  come 
down  to  us  that  absolutely  decides  the  question.  Under  this 
official  tunic  the  knight  or  senator  wore  usually  a  plain 
tunica  iidcrior.  When  in  the  house  he  left  the  outer  tunic 
unbelted  in  order  to  display  the  stripes  as  conspicuously  as 
possible. 

239  Besides  the  subUydcuhim  and  the  tunica  the  Romans  had 
,y    no  regular  uiulerwoar.     Those  who  were  feeble  through  age 

or  ill  health  sometimes  wound  strips  of  woolen  cloth 
{fasciae)  around  the  legs  for  the  sake  of  additional  warmth. 
Tliese  were  called  feniindlla  or  tlbidlia  according  as  they 
covered  the  upper  or  lower  part  of  the  leg.  Such  persons 
might  also  use  similar  wn^appings  for  the  body  [ventrdlia) 
and  even  for  the  throat  {focdlia)^  but  all  these  were  looked 
upon  as  the  badges  of  senility  or  decrepitude  and  formed  no 
part  of  the  rei^mlar  costume  of  sound  men.  It  must  be 
especially  noticed  that  the  Romans  had  nothing  correspond- 
ing to  our  trousers  or  even  long   drawers,   the   braccae   or 

V  brdcae  being  a  Gallic   article   that   was   not    used   at   Rome 


I 


/ 


until  the  tinn^  of  the  latest  omj)e]ors.  The  phrase  ndtii'mes 
brdrdfac  in  classical  times  was  a  contemptuous  expression 
for  the  Gauls  in  particular  and  barbarians  in  general. 

The  Toga.  — Of  the  outer  garments  or  wraps  the  most  240 
ancient  and  the  most  important  was  the  toga   (cf.  tegerc). 
Whence  the  Romans  got  it  we  do  not  know,  but  it  goes  back 
to  the  very  earliest  time  of  which  tradition  tells,  and  was  the 
characteristic  garment  of  the  Uomans  for  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years.     It  was  a  heavy,  white,  woolen  robe,  enveloping 
the  whole  fignre,  falling  to  the  feet,  cumbrous  but  graceful 
and  dignified  in  api)earance.     All   its  associations  suggested 
formalitv.     The  Roman  of  old  tilled  his  fields  clad  onlv  in 
the  f<ubligdculuin;  in  the  privacy  of  his  home  or  at  his  work 
the  Roman  of  every  age  wore  the  comfortable,  blouse-like        y 
tunica;  but  in  the  forum,  in  the  coniitia^  in  the  courts,  at      -" 
the    public    games,     everywhere    that    social    forms    were 
observed  he  appeared  and  had  to  appear  in  the  toga.      In 
the   toga   he   assumed    the    responsibilities    of    citizenship 
(§127),  in  the  toga  he  took  his  wife  from  her  father's  house 
to  his    (§TS),  in  the  toga  he  received  his  clients  also  toga- 
clad    (§182),   in    the    toga   he    discharged    his    duties  as    a 
magistrate,  governed  his  province,  celebrated  his  triumph, 
and  in  the  toga  he  was  wrai)ped   when  he  lay  for  the  last 
time  in  his  hall  (§U^8).     No  foreign   nation  had  a  robe  of 
the  same  material,  color,  and  arrangement ;  no  foreigner  was 
allowed  to  wear  it,  though  he  lived  in  Italy  or  even  in  Rome 
itself;  even  the  banished  citizen  left  the  toga  with  his  civil 
risrhts  behind   him.      Verofil   merelv  gave  expression  to   the 
national  feeling  when  he  wrote  the  proud  verse  (Aen.  1.2S2) : 

Ui'nndnds,  rcrum  dmninds^  gcntoutiuc  f(tgdfam^ 

Form  and  Arrangement. — The  general  appearance  of  the  241 
toga  is  known  to  every  schoolboy;  of  few  ancient  garments 
are  pictures  so  common  and  in  general   so  good  (Becker,  p. 

^  The  Romans,  lords  of  deeds,  the  race  that  wears  the  toga. 


102 


THE    IMUVATK    LfFE    OF    THK    ROMANS 


:!o:];  (inlil  ;iii(l    Koikm',  ]).;•>!! ;   liimmeister,  p.  1X*>3;  Sdirci- 
ber,   LWW,  S-IO;  Jlurper,  Ifich,  and  Sniiih,  s.v.).     Thov 

HVi'    derived     from     numerous 
statues    of    men    clad    in    it, 
which  have  come  down  to  us 
from  ancient    times,    and   we 
have  besides  full    and  careful 
descriptions  of  its  shape    and 
of  the  manner  of  wearing    it 
in  the  works    of  writers    wlio 
liad  worn  it  themselves.     As  a 
matter    of     fact,    however,    it 
lias  been  found   impossible  to 
reconcile    the    descriptions    in 
literature  with  the  representa- 
tions   in    art    (Fig.    S4)    and 
scholars     are     by     no    means 
agreed  as  to   the  precise   cut 
of  the  toga  or  the  way  it  was 
put  on.     It    is  certain,    how- 
ever,  that  in  its  earlier  form 
it  was  simpler,  less  cumbrous, 
and  more  closely  fitted  to  the 
figure  than  in  later  times,  and 
that  even  as  early  as  the  classical  period  its  arrangement  was 
so    complicated   that  the    man    of    fashion    could   not    array 
himself  in  it  without  assistance. 
2i2        Scholars  who  lay  the  greater  stress  on  the  literary  author- 
ities describe  the  cut  and  arrangement  of  the  toga  about  as 
follows:     It  consisted  of  one  piece  of  cloth  of  semicircular 
/      cut,  about  five  yards  long  by  four  wide,  a  certain  portion  of 
which  was  pressed  into  long  narrow  plaits.     This  cloth  was 
doubled  lengthwise,  not  down  the  center  but  so  that  one  fold 
was  deeper  than  the  other.      It   was  then   thrown  over  the 
left  shoulder  in  such  a  manner  that  the  end  in  front  reached 


FKjrKK.  Hi.    TntKKirs  in  thk  T<mja 


PRESS    ANT)    PERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 


163 


. 


1 


/ 


to  the  ground,  and  the  part  ]>ehind  (Fig.  sn)  was  in  length 
about  twice  a  man's  height,  l^his  end  was  then  brought 
around  under  the  right  arm  and  again 
thrown  over  the  left  shoulder  so  as  to 
cover  the  whole  of  the  right  side  from 
the  armpit  to  the  calf.  The  broad 
folds  in  which  it  hung  over  were  thus 
gathered  together  on  the  left  shoulder. 
The  part  which  crossed  the  breast 
diagonally  was  known  as  the  sinus^  or 
bosom.  It  was  deep  enough  to  serve 
as  a  pocket  for  the  reception  of  small 
articles.  According  to  this  descrip- 
tion the  toga  was  in  one  piece  and  had 

no  seams. 

Those  who  attempt  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  toga  wholly  or  chiefiy  from 
works  of  art  find  it  impossible  to  repro- 
duce on  the  living  form  the  drapery 
seen  on  the  statues,  with  a  toga  of  one 

piece  of  goods  or  of  a  semicircular  pattern.  An  experi- 
mental form  is  shown  in  Fig.  86,  ami  resembles  that  of  a 
lamp  shade  cut  in  two  and  stretched  out  to  its  full  extent. 

The  dotted  line  GC  is 
/?  the   straight    edge   of 

^  the  goods;  the  heavy 
lines  show  the  shape 
of  the  toga  after  it 
had  been  cut  out,  and 
had  had  sewed  upon  it 
the  ellipse-like  piece 
marked  FR A  cba.  The 
dotted  line  OE  is  of  a 
length  equivalent  to  the  height  of  a  man  at  the  shoulder,  and 
the  other  measurements  are  to  be  calculated  proportionately. 


243 


Figure  85.  Back  of  Toga 


Figure  86.    Cut  of  Toga 


164 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AV'^hen  the  toga  is  placed  on  the  figure  the  point  ^  must  be  on 
the  left  shoulder,  with  the  point  G  touching  the  ground  in 
front.  The  point  incomes  at  the  back  of  the  neck,  and  as  the 
larger  2)art  of  the  garment  is  allowed  to  fall  behind  the  figure 
the  points  L  and  M  will  fall  on  the  calves  of  the  legs  behind, 
the  point  a  under  the  right  elbow,  and  the  point  b  on  the 
stomach.  The  material  is  carried  behind  the  back  and 
under  the  right  arm  and  then  thrown  over  the  left  shoulder 
again.  The  point  c  will  fall  on  E^  and  the  portion  OPCa 
will  hang  down  the  back  to  the  ground,  as  shown  in  Fig.  80, 
§242.  The  part  FRA  is  then  pulled  over  the  right  shoulder 
to  cover  the  right  side  of  the  chest  and  form  the  ^inus^  and 
the  part  running  from  the  left  shoulder  to  the  ground  in 
front  is  pulled  up  out  of  the  way  of  the  feet,  worked  under 
the  diagonal  folds  and  allowed  to  fall  out  a  little  to  the 
fi(mt.  Tlie  front  shoidd  then  present  an  appearance  simihir 
to  that  shown  in  the  figure  in  §241.  It  Avill  be  fouiul  in 
practice,  however,  that  much  of  the  grace  of  the  toga  must 
have  been  due  to  the  trained  vestiplictis,  who  kept  it 
properly  creased  when  it  was  not  in  use  and  carefully 
arranged  each  fold  after  his  master  had  put  it  on.  We  are 
not  told  of  any  pins  or  tapes  to  hold  it  in  place,  but  are  told 
that  the  pnrt  falling  from  the  left  shoulder  to  the  ground 
behind  kept  all  ii^  position  by  its  own  weight,  and  that  this 
weiglit  was  sometimes  increased  by  lead  sewed  in  the  liem. 
244  It  is  evident  that  in  this  fashionable  toga  the  limbs  were 
completely  fettered,  and  that  all  rapid,  not  to  say  violent, 
motion  was  absolutely  impossible.  In  other  words  the  toga 
of  the  ultrafashionable  in  the  time  of  Cicero  was  fit  onlv 
for  the  formal,  stately,  ceremonial  life  of  the  city.  It  is 
ensy  to  see,  therefore,  how  it  had  come  to  be  the  emblem  of 
peace,  being  too  cumbrous  for  use  in  war,  and  how  Cicero 
could  sneer  at  the  young  dandies  of  his  time  for  wearing 
"sails  not  togas."  AVe  can  also  uiiderstand  the  eagerness 
with  which  the   Roman  welcomed  a  respite  from  civic  and 


DRESS    AND    l»ERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 


165 


/m< 


245 


social    duties.     Juvenal    sighed    for    the   freedom    of    the 

country,  where  only  the  dead  had  to  wear  the  toga.     Martial 

praises  the  unconventionality  of  the 

provinces  for  the  same  reason.   Pliny 

makes  it  one  of  the  attractions  of  his 

villa  that    no   guest  need  wear  the 

toira  there.     Its  cost,  too,  made  it  all 

the  more  burdensome  for  the  poor,  and 

the  working  classes  could  scarcely  have 

worn  it  at  all. 

The  earlier  toga  must  have  been 
simpler  by  far,  but  no  certain  repre- 
sentation of  it  has  come  down  to  us. 
The  Dresden  statue,  often  used  to  illus- 
trate its  arrangement  (Smith,  Fig.  7,  p. 
84S5;  Schreiber  LXXXV,  8;  Mar- 
quardt.  Fig.  '2,  p.  558;  Baumeister, 
Fig.  11)21),  is  more  than  doubtful,  the 
garment  being  probably  a  Greek  man- 
tle of  some  sort.  An  approximate  idea 
of   it   may  be  gained   perhaps  from  a 

statue  in  Florence  of  an 

Etruscan  orator  (Fig.  87),  which  corresponds 
very  closely  with  the  descriptions  of  it  in  lit- 
erary sources.  At  any  rate  it  was  possible 
for  men  to  fight  in  it  by  tying  the  trailing 
ends  around  the  body  and  drawing  the  back 
folds  over  the  head.  This  was  called  the 
cincfus  Galnnus,  and  long  after  the  toga  had 
ceased  to  be  worn  in  war  this  ductus  was 
used  in  certain  ceremonial  observances.  It 
is  shown  in  Fig.  88,  though  the  toga  is  one 
of  later  times. 
Kinds  of  Togas.— Tlie  toga  of  the  ordinary  citizen  was,  246 
like  the  tunic  (§238),  of  the  natural  color  of  the  white  wool 


Figure  H7. 
Thk  Eakmkr  Tooa 


FluUKK  88. 

Thk  CiNCTrs  Ga- 

BIN  ITS 


166 


DRESS    AND    PERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 


167 


THE    ]^RIVATE    LIFE    OK    THE     ROMANS 


rv 


of  which  it  was  made,  and  varied  in  texture,  of  course,  with 
the  quality  of  the  wool.  It  was  called  iof/((  pura  (or  rirllis, 
Ubera  §127).     A  dazzling  brilliancy  could  be  given  to  the 

v/  toga  by  a  preparation  of  fuller's  chalk,  and  one  so  treated 
was  called  tof/a  splende)is  or  Candida.  In  such  a  toga  all 
persons  running  for  oliice  arrayed  themselves,  and  from  it 
they  were  called  candiddfl.  The  curule  magistrates,  censors, 
and  dictators  wore  the  toga  i)raetexta^  differing  from  the 
ordinary  toga  only  in  having  a  purple  border.  It  was  also 
worn  by  boys  (§127)  and  by  the  chief  ofiicers  of  the  free 
towns  and  colonies.     The  toga  picfa  was  wholly  of  purple 

0  covered  with  embroidery  of  gold,  and  was  worn  by  the  vic- 
torious general  in  his  triumphal  procession  and  later  by  the 
Emperors.     The  toyapulla  was  simply  a  dingy  toga  worn  by 

'  persons  in  mourning  or  threatened  with  some  calamity, 
usually  a  reverse  of  political  fortune.  Persons  assuming  it 
were  called  sordiddfl  and  were  said  vintdre  vesfcm.  This 
vestis  m  fit  at  id  was  a  common  form  of  public  demonstration 
of  sympathy  with  a  fallen  leader.  In  this  case  curule  magis- 
trates contented  themselves  with  merely  laying  aside  the  toga 
praefexta  for  the  toga  pura,  and  only  the  lower  orders  wore 
the  toga  j)  a  tiff, 
247  The  Lacerna. — In  Cicero's  time  there  was  just  coming 
into  fashionable  use  a  mantle  called  tacerna,  which  seems  t(^ 
have  been  first  used  by  soldiers  and  the  lower  classes  and 
then  adopted  by  their  betters  on  account  of  its  convenience. 
These  wore  it  at  first  over  the  toga  as  a  protection  against 
dust  and  sudden  showers.  It  was  a  woolen  mantle,  short, 
light,  open  at  the  sides,  witho'^t  sleeves,  but  fastened  with  a 
brooch  or  buckle  on  the  right  shoulder.  It  was  so  easy  and 
comfortable  that  it  began  to  be  worn  not  over  the  toga  but 
instead  of  it,  and  so  generally  that  Augustus  issued  an  edict 
forbidding  it  to  be  used  in  public  assemblages  of  citizens. 
Under  the  later  Emperors,  however,  it  came  into  fashion 
again,  and  was  the  common  outer  garment  at  the  theaters. 


\i 


»'-t 


i\ 


It  ^vas  made  of  various  colors,  dark  naiurally  for  the    owcr 

c  a  sesTlvite  for  forniul  occasions,  but  also  of  bnghter  hue. 

t  va tslLtimes  supplied  with  a  hood  ^ne.Uu^.  .vhu^h  he 

wearer  could  pull  over  the  head  as  a  protection  or  a  disgm.e. 
wearer  couia  i  ^^^^^  ^^^^^.,^  ^^  ^^^ 

tlr  \he  military  cloak,  first  f^J^J;:;^-^ 
paimmaUHm  and  .«^«v»,  was  much  hke  the  te..» ««,  t> 

n^r  p:::r!::^t;\han  the ...« ..d  ^.  h.-  ana. 

sort,  and  conditions  of  men  was  the  paenula  (F,,.  s-O,  -^ 

heavy  coarse  wrap  of  wool,  leather,  or  fur, 

used  merely  for  protection  against  rain  or 

cold    and  therefore  never  a  substitute  tor 

the  'toga  or   made  of  fine   materials   or 

bright  colors.     It  seems  to  have  varied  m 

length  and  fullness,  but  to  have  been   a 

sleeveless  wrap,  made  in  one  piece  with 

a  hole  hi  the  middle,  through  which  the 

wearer  thrust  his  head.    It  was,  therefore, 

classed   with   the    vesnnienta  dmi.a     or 

closed  garments,    and    must    have    been 

Huich  like  the  modern   poncho.     It  was 

drawn  on  over  the  head,  like  a  tunic  or 

sweater,  and  covered  the  arms,  leavmg 
them  much  less  freedom  than  the  Ucerna 
,lid  In  those  of  some  length  there  was 
a  tut     n    front  running  from    the    waist  down,    and    th  s 

kL  the  wearer  to  hitch  the  cloak  up  over  one  shoulder, 
enabled  the  weaiei   to  ^_^^^^^  ^^^^ 

exposing  it  to  the  Ave.itnu.  ordinary  trav- 

toga  .coordi„g  ^^"«-f^^^^Z^  "t  l.  al-  con,- 

„,only   worn  by  da>e^,  ami  seun  ^^.^^^^^ 

regularly  to  soldiers  stationed  in  )ila.,e» 


Kkutrk  h9. 


V 


/ 


^\\ 


IBS 


THE     I'KiVATE    EIFE    OF    THE    HUMANS 


DRESS    AND     PERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 


169 


249 


FlOlTKK   90. 

Soldi KK  Wkar- 

ISii    THK 
A  HOI. LA 


was  severe.     Like   tlie   hfrmut   it    was   sometimes    supplied 
with  a  hood. 

Other  "Wraps.— Of  other  articles  included  under  the  geii- 
eral  term  aniictns  we  know  little  more  than  the  names.     The 

sjiHthcsis  was  a  dinner  dress  worn  at  table  over 
the  tunic  by  the  ultrafashionable,   and  some- 
times dignified  l)y  the  special  name  of   ce^ti^ 
cendldHa,   or  cendtovium   alone.     It   was  not 
worn  out  of  the  house  except  on  the  Satur- 
nalia,  and  was   usually  of  some  bright  color. 
Its  shape  is  unknown.     1^he  hunia  and  abulia 
were    very    heavy    woolen    cloaks,    the   latter 
(Fig.  !)())  being  a  favorite  with  poor  people  who 
liad  to  make  one  garment  do  duty  for  two  or 
three.     It  was   used  especially  by  professional 
philosophers,    who  were  proverbially  careless 
about   their  dress.      One  is  thought  to  be  worn  by  the  man 
on  the  extreme  left,  in  tlie  picture  of  a  school  shown  in  gll!). 
'Hie  ciuhn'mis  was  something   like  the  modern   ])ath   robe, 
used   by  men  after  violent  gymnastic  exercise  to  keep  from 
taking  cold,  and  Inirdly  belongs  under  the  head  of  dress. 
250        Footgear:  the  Soleae.-^It  may  be  set  down  as  a  rule  that 
freemen  did   not  appear  in  public  at  Home  with  bare  feet, 
except  as  nowadays  un-      , 
der   the    compulsion    of      i         _ 


the  direst  ])overtv.  T'wo 
styles  of  footwear  were  in  use,  slip- 
pers or  sandals  (,vo/mr)  and  shoes 
{ralrcl).  Tha  slipper  consisted  essen- 
tially of  a  sole  of  leather  or  mattino- 
attached  to  the  foot  in  various  wavs 
(see  the  several  styles  in  Fig.  111). 
Custom  limited  its  use  to  the  hou>e 
and  it  went  characteristically  with  the  tunic  (§--2;]:),  when 
that  was  not  covered  by  an  outer  garment.      Oddlv  enoucrh. 


t'KaUE  JU.      SoLKAK 


/! 


J> 


it  seems  to  us,  the  slippers  were  not  worn  at  meals.  Host 
:ind  guests  wore  them  into  the  dining-room,  but  as  soon  as 
they  had  taken  their  phices  on  the  couches  (g'2'^4)  slaves 
removed  the  slippers  from  their  feet  and  cared  for  them 
until  the  meal  was  over  (§152).  Hence  the  phrase  sifleds 
juh^rere  came  to  mean  "to  prepare  to  take  leave.''  When  a 
guest  went  out  to  dinner  in  a  lerflra  (§151)  he  wore  the 
soleae,  but  if  he  walked  he  wore  the  regular  out-door  shoes 
{('aln'D  and  had  his  slippers  carried  by  a  slave.  ^^ 

The  Calcei.— Out  of  doors  the  calceus  was  always  worn,  251 
although  it  was  much  heavier  and  less  comfortable  than  the 


Fl«rRK  1)2.     Roman  Shoks 

xo7m.  (rood  form  forbade  the  toga  to  ])e  worn  without  the 
ndcrl,  and  they  were  worn  also  with  all  the  other  garments 
included  under  the  word  aini<-fns.  The  ralceus  was  essen- 
tially our  shoe,  made  on  a  last  of  leather,  covering  the  upper 
part  of  the  foot  as  well  as  protecting  the  sole,  fastened  with 
laces  or  straps.  The  higher  (dasses  had  shoes  peculiar  to 
their  rank.  The  shoe  for  senators  is  best  known  to  us 
{adceiis  settntorin^i),  and  is  shown  in  Fig.  1)*2 ;  but  we  know 
only  its  shape,  not  its  color.  It  had  a  thick  sole,  was  open 
on  the  inside  at   the  ankle,  and   was  fastened   by  wide  straps 


[y 


\\ 


17U 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


DRESS    AND    PERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 


171 


which  ran  from  the  juncture  of  the  sole  and  the  upper,  were 
wrapped  around   the  leg  and  tied  above  the   instep.     The 
mnlleus  or  calceus  patririus  was  worn  originally  by  patricians 
only,  but  hiter  by  all  curule  magistrates.     It  was  shaped  like 
the  senator's  shoe,  was  red  in  color  like  the  fish  from  which  it 
was  named,  and  had  an  ivory  or  silver  ornament  of  crescent 
shape  {Jfttnda)  fastened  on  the  outside  of  the  ankle.      We 
know  nothmg  of  the  shoe  worn  by  the  knights.      Ordinary 
citizens  wore  shoes  that  opened  in  front  and  were  fastened 
by  a  strap  of  leather  running  from  one  side  of  the  shoe 
near  the  top.     They  did  not  come  up  so  high  on  the  leg  as 
those  of  the  senators  and  were  probably  of  uncolored  leather. 
'J'he  })oorer  classes  naturally  wore  shoes  of  coarser  material, 
often   of    untanned    leather    {perones),    and    laborers    and 
soldiers   had    half-boots    {caUgae)    of   the    stoutest   possible 
make,  or  wore  wooden  shoes.     Xo  stockings  were  w^orn  by 
the  l?omans,  but  persons  with  tender  feet  might  wrap  them 
with  fa.sciae  {^V-V,))  to  keep  the  shoes  and  boots  from  chafing 
them. 
252        Coverings  for   the   Head. — Men  of   the   upi)er  classes  in 
Home  had  ordinarily  no  covering  for  the  head.      When  they 
went    out    in    bad    weather   they    protected    themselves,    of 
course,  with  the  lacermi  and  paenuht^  and  these,  as  we  have 
seen  (§g24T,  248),  were  provided  with  hoods  {cucuUl),     If 
they  were  caught  without  wraps  in  a  sudden  shower  they 
made  shift  as  best  they  could  by  pulling  the  toga  up  over 
the  head,  cf.  Fig.  8S  in  g245.      Persons  of  lower  standing, 
.  especially  workmen  who  were  out  of  doors  all   day,  wore  a 
/   conical  felt  cap  called  the  pilleus,   see   the    illustration   in 
§175.     It   is  probable  that  this  was  a  survival  of  what  had 
been  in  prehistoric  times  an  (essential   part  of  the  Roman 
dress,  for  it  was  preserved  among  the  insignia  of  the  oldest 
priesthoods,  the  Pontifices,  Flamines,  and  Salii,  and  figured 
in  the  ceremonv  of  manumission.      Out  of   the  citv,  that  is, 
while  traveling  or  while   ifi    the  country,  the   upper  classes. 


TllK  Causia 


Fkujkh:  \)\.    Thk  Pktasus 


too,  protected  the  head,  especially  against  the  sun,  with  a 
hroad-brimnied  felt  hat  of   foreign    origin,   the   vamia   or 

petasus.  They  are  shown 
ill     Figs.     93     and    94. 
They  were  worn  in  the 
city  also  by  the  old  and 
feeble,  and  in  later  times 
by  all  classes  in  the  the- 
i'iers.     In  the  house,  of  course,  the  head  was  left  uncovered. 
The  Hair  and  Beard.— The  IJonians  in  early  times  wore 
long  hair  and  full  lieards,  as  did   all  uncivilized   peoples. 
N'arro  tells  us  tliat  professional  barbers  came  first  to  Kome 
in  the  year  :50(i  u.c,  but  we  know  that  the  razor  and  shears 
were  used  by  the  llomans  long  before  history  begins.     Pliny 
says  that  theyonnger  Scipio  (fT^.t  li.c.)  was  the  first  of  the 
Komans   to   shave   every  day,   and  the  story  may  be  tnie. 
People  of  wealth  and  position  had  the  hair  and  beard  kept 
in  order   at  home  by  their  own   slaves   (^150),   and    these 
slaves,  if  skillful  barbers,  brought  high  prices  in  the  market. 
People  of  the  middle  class  went  to   imblic  liarber  shops,  aiirl 
made  them  gradually  places  of  general  resort  for  the  idle 
and  the  gossiping.      But  in   all   periods  the  hair  and  beard 
were   allowed    to  grow  as  a  sign  of   sorrow,  and  were   the 
regular    accompaniments    of    the    mourning    garb    already 
mentioned     (§-240).      The    very    poor,     too,     went    usually 
unshaven  and  unshorn,  simply  because  this   was  the  cheap 

and  easy  fashion. 

Styles  varied  with  the  years  of  the  persons  concerned. 
The  hair  of  children,  boys  and  girls  alike,  was  allowed  to 
grow  long  and  hang  around  the  neck  and  shoulders.  When 
the  boy  assumed  the  toga  of  manhood  the  long  locks  were 
cut  off,  sometimes  with  a  good  deal  of  formality,  and  under 
the  Empire  thev  were  often  made  an  otferiug  to  some  deity. 
in  the  classical  'period  young  men  seem  to  have  worn  close 
clippo.l   beards;  at  least  Cicero  jeers  at  those  who  followe.l 


253 


254 


1/ 


172 


THE    PKrVATK    LIFE    OF    THE    RO>fAXS 


DRESS    AND     PERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 


173 


Catiline  for  wearing  full  beards,  and  on  tlie  other  hand 
declares  that  their  companions  who  could  show  no  signs  of 
beard  on  their  faces  were  worse  than  eifeniinate.  Men  of 
maturity  wore  the  hair  cut  short  and  the  face  shaved  clean. 
Most  of  the  portraits  that  have  come  down  to  us  show 
beardless  men  until  well  into  the  second  century  of  our  era, 
hut  after  the  time  of  Hadrian  (117-1:58  a.d.)  the  full  beard 
became  fashiomihle.  Figs.  2  to  11,  gg--20-74,  are  arranged 
chronologically  and  will  serve  to  show  the  changes  in  styles. 
255  Jewelry. — The  ring  was  the  only  article  of  jewelry  worn 
by  a  lioman  citizen  after  he  readied  the  age  of  manhood     ^ 

(g!)0),  and  good  taste 
limited  him  to  a  sin- 
gle ring.  It  was  orig- 
inally of  iron,  and 
though  often  set  with 
a  precious  stone  and 
made  still  more  valu- 
able by  the  artistic 
cutting  of  the  stone,  it  was  always  worn  more  for  use  than  orna- 
ment. The  ring  was  in  fact  in  almost  all  cases  a  seal  ring,  '/ 
having  some  device  upon  it  (Fig.  !),"))  which  the  wearer  im- 
printed in  melted  wax  when  he  wished  to  acknowledge  some 
document  ashisowii,  or  to  secure  cabinets  and  cotfers  against 
prying  curiosity.  The  iron  ring  was  worn  generally  until  late 
in  the  Empire,  even  after  the  gold  ring  had  ceased  to  be  the 
special  privilege  of  the  knights  and  had  become  merely  the 
l)adge  of  freedonL  Even  the  engagement  ring  (>$T1)  was 
usually  of  iron,  the  setting  giving  it  its  material  value, 
although  we  are  told  that  this  particular  ring  w^as  often  the 
tirst  article  of  gold  that  the  young  girl  possessed. 
256  Of  course  there  were  not  wanting  men  as  ready  to  violate 
the  canons  of  taste  in  the  matter  of  rings  as  in  the  choice  of 
their  garments  or  the  style  of  wearing  the  hair  and  beard. 
We    need  not   be  surprised,   then,   to   I'ead   of  one   having 


I'luUKK  Uo.    iSEAL  Rings 


I 


sixteen  rings,  or  of  another  having  six  for  each  finger.      One 
of   MarliaFs  acquaintances   had  a  ring  so  large  that  i he  poet 
advised  him  to  wear  it  on  his  leg,  and  Juvemil  tells  us  of  an     ^^ 
upstart  who  wore  light  rings  in  the  summer  and   heavy  rings 
in  the  winter.      It   is  a  more  surprising  fact  that  the  ring 
was  worn  on  the  joint,  not  pressed  down  as  far  as  possible  on 
the  finger,  as  we  wear  them  now.      If  two  were  worn  on  the 
same  finger  they  were  worn  on  separate  joints,  not  touching 
each   other.      This    fashion    must   have  seriously    interfered 
with  the  movement  of  the  linger. 

Dress  of  Women.— It  has  l)een  remarked  already  (S*2:U)  25'" 

that  the  dress  of  men   and   women  differed   less   in    ancient 

than  in   modern   times,  and  we  shall 

find    that    in  the  classical  period  at 

least  the  principal  articles  worn  were 

practically  the  same,  however  nuu  h 

thev  differed   in  name   and  probably 

in  the  fineness  of  their  nKiteriiils.    At 

this  period  the  dress  of  tlie  matron 

consisted   in  <reneral  of  throe  urticl-^s;  the  fynim  inferior, 

tlie    finn'ra  cxh-rior  or  sfnla,   and   the  paJhi.      lieneath    the 

iHuint    -udrrhr   there  was    nothing   lil<e  the  modern  eorset- 

waistor  corset,  intended  to  modify  the  fi-nre,  hut  a  hand  of 

soft   leathe)'  {^in<;iiiillurv)  was  sometimes  passed    around  tiio 

l.ody  nn.ler  the  hreasts  for  a  snpport  (Fig.  W\).  and  the  snb- 

UqdniliiiH  (S-2:'..V)  was  also  worn  by  women. 
■    The  Tunica  Interior.— The  //'»(f« //^/er/or  did  not   ditferass 

mueh  in  material  or  shape  from  the  tunic  for  men  already 
described  {^'I'MS).  It  fitted  the  figure  more  closely  perhaps 
than  the  num's,  was  sometimes  supplied  with  sleeves,  and 
as  it  reached  only  to  the  knee  did  not  recpiire  a  belt  to  keep 
it  from  interfering  with  the  free  use  of  the  limbs.  A  soft 
sash-like  band  of  leather  {stmphitim),  however,  was  some- 
times worn  over  it,  close  under  the  breasts,  but  merely  to 
support   them,   aud   in   this  case  we  may  suppose   that   the 


f  A 

Fkutkk  9(1.     Thk  Mamillark 


174 


THK     riUVATE    LIFE    OF     THK     UOAfAXS 


259 


FKiL^KK  y< 


HKiinillrn'c  w'jis  disctai'ded.       For  this  sasli  (Fig.  !>T)  tlu^   more 
LToiioral  toi'ins  znini  and  cinrjnJitm  :ire  soniutimes  used.     This 

tunic  WHS  not  usually  worn  alone,  even  in  the 
house,  except  l)y  young  girls. 

The  Stola.  —  Over  the  tunica    interior  was 
worn  the  tunka  exterior^  or  dola^  the  distinc- 
tive dress  of  tlie  Roman  matron 
(§91).      It    differed    in    several 
respects  from  the  tunic  worn  as 
thestrophium      ^  house-dress    by  men.     It  was 

open  at  both  sides  above  the  waist  and 
fastened  on  the  shoulders  by  brooches.  It 
was  much  longer,  reaching  to   the  feet  when 

ungirded    and   having  in 
addition    a  wide    border 
or  flounce  (lnsfif(()  sewed 
to  the  lower  hem. 
There  was  also  a  border  around 
the  neck,  which  seems  to 
have  been  usually  of  pur- 
ple.   The  stola 
was    sleeveless 


Figure  98. 
Thh  Zona 


Figure  99.    Statue  of  the  Younger  Faustina 

if  the  tunica    hdvr'ior  had     sleeves,  but  if  the   funic   itself 
was   sleeveless   the   stola    had   them,     so    that   the    arm   was 


) 


T>RESS    AM)    PERSONAL    ORNAMKXTS 


\ 


175 


always  nroloctcd.  Thes.  sU-.-ves,  lH.w,.ver,  vvl,.t.lH-r  u,  .....,<■ 
or  ,s7o/./,  w.,ro  op(M,  on  t,l,.  fro.-t  ..f  llu^  upper  arn.  .ml  only 
loosely   .•hispcd   Nvilh    broorhos  or    t>utt.ons,    ol'tcn    ot    ?reut 

buauty  and  value.  .;,koca 

Owing  to  its  great  length  the  .Ma  was  always  worn  uUh  260 
,  girdle  (;.r...O  ^bove  the  hips  (Fig.  U8),and  throtighit  the 
\L  itself  was  pulled  until  the  lower  edge  of  the  u,>^tUa 
barely  cleared  the  floor.     This  gave 
the  fullness  about  the  waist  seen  in 
the  statue  of  Faustina  (Fig.  '••D),  in 
which  the  cut   of  the   sleeves  can 
also  be  seen.     The  luna  was  usually 
entirely  hidden  by  the  overhanging 
folds.    The  ><U>h{  was  the  distinctive 
dress  of  the  matron,  as  has  been  said, 
and   it  is  probable  that  the   'tndlta 
was  its  distinguishing  feature;  that 
is,  the  tHuU-a  exteriuroi  the  unmar- 
ried woman  had  no  flounce  or  border, 
though    it  probably  reached  to  the 

floor. 

The    Palla.— The    palla    was   a 

shawl-like  wrap  for  use  out  of  doors. 
It  was  a  rectangtilar  piece  of  woolen 
goods,  as  simple  as  possible  in  its 
form,  but  worn  in  the  most  diverse 
fashions  in  diflerent  times.  In  the 
classical    period    it    seems   to   have 

b  e„  wrapped    around  the   figure,   much    as  the  toga  was 
0,  "third'  was  thrown  over  the  left  shotdder  fronj  behttt 
and  allowed  to  fall  to  tlte  feet.     The  rest  was  earned  around 
he  back  and  brought  forward  either  over  or  u,u ler  the  ng 
,rm  at  the  pleasure  of  the  wearer.    The  end  was  t-n  th^o. 
,,a,k  over  the  left  shoulder  after  the  sty  e  o       -  I-^'^'  - 
i„   the   n.arble  stat.te  tn.n.  Hen. ilaneum  shown  in  htg.  Um, 


261 


HTAirK    Hf'M    IlKUC  ri.ASKI'M 


176 


THK     PRIVATK     LITK    ol'    THK     ROMAN 


DRESS    AND    RKRSOXAL    ORNAMENTS 


177 


or  jillowed  to  hjiii--  loosely  over  the  left  urm,  as  in  ihe  statue 
ot  Livia  (Fig.   lOJ  ).    li   was  possible  also  to  [)ull  the  /ndhi  up 

over  the  head,  and  this  nuuhod  ol* 
using  it  is  supposed  by  some  schol- 
ars to  be  shown  in  the  statue  of 
Livia,  while  others  see  in  the  cover- 
mg  of  the  head  some  sort  of  a  veil. 

262  U'Ml^iBlLl^  Shoes    and  Slippers.— What  has 

been  said  of  the  footgear  of  men 
(§§•350,  -^51)  applies  also  to  that  of 
women.  Slippers  (soJme)  were  worn 
in  the  house,  differing  from  those  of 
men  only  in  being  embellished  as 
much  as  possible,  sometimes  even 
with  pearls.  An  idiui  of  their  appeai'- 
ance  may  be  had  from  the  statue  of 
Faustina  (g'^o!)).  Shoes  (ralrel)  were 
insisted  upon  for  out-door  use,  and 
differed  from  those  of  men,  as  they 
chiefly  differ  from  them  now,  in 
being  made  of  finer  and  softer 
leather.      They  were  often  white,  or 

gilded,  or  of  bright  colors,  and  those 
intended  for  winter  wear  had  sometimes  cork  soles. 

263  Dressing  of  the  Hair. — The  Roman  woman  re^ndarlv  wore 
no  hat,  but  covered  the  head  when  necessary  with  the  ,^ioI(( 
or  with  a  veil.  ]\ruch  attention  was  given  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  hair,  the  fashions  being  as  numerous  and  as 
inconstant  as  they  are  to-day.  For  young  girls  the  favorite 
arrangement,  perhaps,  was  to  comb  the  hair  back  and  gather 
it  into  a  knot  {)iddHs)  on  the  back  of  the  neck.  F'or  matrons 
it  will  be  sufhcient  to  call  attention  to  the  figures  alreadv 
given  (§grr,  16\),  ^Ol),  and  to  show  from  statues  Ave  styles 
(Fig.  l()->)  worn  at  different  times  uiuler  the  Empire,  all 
l)elonging  to  ladies  of  the  court. 


FlQlTRK    101. 
STATrK  OF    LlVIA 


\ 


y 


\ 


For  l<cei)ing  the  Imir  in  position  pins  wore  n.sed  of  ivory,  264 
silvor,  iina.i,'ol«L  often  mounted  willi  jewels.  Nets  {re/icnla) 
and  ril)bous  {rittav,  tacniar,  fasriular)  were  also  worn,  but 
combs  were  not  made  a  part  of  the  head-dress.  The  Roman 
woman  of  fashion  did  not  scruple  to  color  her  hair,  the 
aolden-red  color  of  the  (Iroek  hair  being  especially  admired, 


FlUlTBE    102.     «TVLES  OK    DRESSING    THE    UaIB 

or  to  use  false  hair,  which  had  become  an  article  of  commer- 
cial importance  early  in  the  Empire.  Mention  should  also 
be  made  of  the  garlands  (roroiiue)  of  flowers,  or  of  flowers  and 
foliage,  and  of  the  coronets  of  pearls  and  other  precious 
stones  that  were  used  to  supplement  the  natural  <n-  artificial 
beauty  of  the  hair.      These  are  illustrated  in  Fig.  H)->  a1)0ve 

The  woman's  hairdresser  was  a  female  slave  (§150),  and  265 

Juvenal  tells  us 
that  she  suffered 
cruelly  from  the 
impatience  of  her 
mistress  (§15S), 
who  found  the 
long  hairpins 
shown  in  the  fig- 
ure a  convenient 

instrument    of  •  i       * 

punishment.  The  orndtrU  was  an  adept  in  all  the  tricks  of 
the  toilet  alreadv  mentioned,  and  besides  used  all  sorts  of  un- 
guents, oils,  and  tonics  to  make  the  hair  soft  and  lustrous  and 


FiorRK  108.    ToiT-KT  Articles 


178 


THP:    l^RIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


k 


DRESS    AND    PERSONAL    ORXAMEN^TS 


179 


to  cause  it  to  grow  ahniidantly.  In  Fig.  103  are  shown  a 
number  of  common  toilet  articles:  a,,  /y,  r,  //,  /,  and  k  are 
hairpins,  d  and  (j  are  hand  mirrors  made  of  highly  })olished 
metal,  /  is  a  comb,  and  e  a  box  for  ponuitum  or  powder. 

266  Accessories. — The   parasol    {Knihnlndion^    nmht^Ud)    was 
commonly  used  by  women  at  Rome  at  least  as  early  as  the 

close  of  the  Repul)lic,  and  was 
all  the  more  necessary  because 
thev  wore  no  hats  or  bonnets. 
The  parasols  were  usually  car- 
ried for  them  by  atteiulants 
(^151).  From  vase  paintings 
we  learn  that  they  were  much 
like  our  own  in  shape  (Fig. 
Figure  104.  thk  Parasol  1^^^,  SCO  also  Smith  and  Har- 

per, s.Y. ;  Baumeister,  p. 
1684;  Schreiber  XCV,  9),  and  could  be  closed  when  not 
in  use.  The  fan  {fldbcUum)  was  used  from  the  earliest 
times  and  was  made  in  various  ways  (Fig.  105) ;  sometimes 
of  wings  of  birds,  sometimes  of  thin  sheets  of  wood  attached 
to  a  handle,  sometimes  of  peacock's  feathers  artisticallv 
arranged,  sometimes  of  linen  stretched  over 
a  frame.  These  fans  were  not  used  by  the 
woman  herself,  being  always  handled  by  an 
attendant  who  was  charged  with  the  task  of 
keeping  her  cool  and  untroubled  by  flies 
(see  Fig.  73  in  §226).  Handkerchiefs  {sfuld^ 
ria)^  the  finest  made  of  linen,  were  used  by 
both  sexes,  but  only  for  wiping  the  perspira- 
tion from  the  face  or  hands.  For  keeping 
the  palms  cool  and  dry  ladies  seem  also  to  have  used  glass 
balls,  or  balls  of  amber,  the  latter,  perhaps,  for  the  fra- 
grance also. 

267  Jewelry. — The  Roman  woman  was  passionately  fond  of 
jewelry,  and  incalculable  sums  were  spent  upon  the  adorn- 


FiorKE  105.    Fans 

(,JSee  also  Figure 

73,  2226) 


ment  of  her  person.    Rings,  brooches,  pins,  jeweled  buttons, 
and    coronets    have    been    mentioned    already,    and    besides 
these  bracelets,   necklaces,  and  ear-rings  or  pendants  were 
ll       worn  from  the  earliest  times  by  all  who  could  allord   them. 
Not  oulv  were  they  made  of  costly  materials,  but  their  value 
was  also  enhanced  by  the    artistic  workmanship    that   was 
lavished  upon  them.     Almost  all  the  precious  stones  that  are 
known  to  us  were  familiar  to  the  Romans  and  were  to  be 
found  in  the  jewel-casket  (§230)  of  the  wealthy  lady.     The 
pearl,  however,  seems  to  have  been  in  all  times  the  favorite,    v 
I       No  adequate  description  of  these  articles  can  be  given  here; 
no  illustrations  can  do  them  justice.     It  will  have  to  suftice 
that  Suetonius  says  that  Caesar  paid  six  million  sesterces 
(nearly   8:300,000)    for    a    single   pearl,    which    he   gave   to 
Servilia,    the  mother  of   Marcus    l^rutus,   and   that    Lollia 
Paulina,    the    wife    of  the    Emperor    C^digula,    possessed    a 
single  set  of  pearls  and  emeralds  which  is  said  by  Pliny  the 
elder  to  have  been  valued  at  forty  million  sesterces  (nearly 
>^2,000,000). 

Dress  of  Children  and  Slaves.— The  picture  from  llercula-  268 
neum  (glUO   ^^liows   that  schoolboys  wore  the  sHbJi(jaculuni 
and  tiuiira,  and  it  is  probable  that  no  other  articles  of  cloth- 
ing were  worn  by  either  boys   or  girls  of  the  poorer  classes. 
Besides  these,  children  of  well-to-do  parents  wore  the  toija 
I        praetexta  (§240),  which  the  girl  laid  aside  on  the  eve  of  her 
nuirriage  (S^^i)  and   the  boy   when  he   reached   the  age  of 
numhood   (§127).     Slaves  were  furnished  a  tunic,   wooden 
shoes,  and   in  stormy  weather  a  cloak,  probably  tlie  paenula 
(§248).     This    must   have   been    the   ordinary   garb  of  the 
poorer  citizens  of  the  working  classes,  for  they  would  have 
had  little  u?e  for  the  toga,  at  least  in  later  times,  and  could 
hardly  have  atforded  so  expensive  a  garment. 

Materials.— Fabrics  of  wool,  linen,  cotton,  and  silk  were  269 
used  bv  the  Romans.     For  (dothes   woolen   goods  were  the 
first  to  be  used,  and  naturally  so,  for  the  early  inhabitants 


w 


\v 


^ 


\ 


181 


180 


THE    PRTVATK    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


of  Latiuni  were  «liepher(ls,  Jiiid  woolen  ganneiits  l)est  suiud 
the  eliinate.  Vnder  the  l?e[)iihlic  wool  was  almost  exeln- 
sively  used  lor  the  garments  of  hoth  men  and  women,  as  we 
have  seen,  though  the  sublhjilcuhin)  was  frequently,  and  the 

^  woman's  tunic  sometimes,  made  of  linen.  The  best  native 
wools  came  from  Calabria  and  Apulia,  that  from  near 
Tarentum  being  the  best  of  all.  Native  wools  did  not 
sufllice,  however,  to  meet  the  great  demand,  and  large 
quantities  w^ere  imported.  Linen  goods  were  early  manu- 
factured in  Italy,  but  were  used  chietly  for  other  purposes 
than  clothing  until  in  the  Empire,  and  only  in  the  third 
ceuturv  of  our  era  did  men  beirin  to  make  cfeneral  use  of 
them.  The  linest  linen  came  from  Egypt,  and  was  as  soft 
and  transparent  as  silk.  Little  is  positively  known  about 
the  use  of  cotton,  l)ecause  the  word  ('(i)'bitf>Hs^  the  genuine 
Indian  name  for  it,  was  used  bv  the  Tiomans  for  linen 
goods  also  and  when  we  meet  the  word  we  can  not  always  be 
sure  of  the  material  meant.  Silk,  imported  from  China 
directly  or  indirectly,  was  first  used  for  garments  uiuler 
Til)erius,  and  then  oidy  in  a  mixture  of  linen  and  silk  (resfes 
sericac).  These  were  forbidden  for  the  use  of  men  in  his 
reign,  but  the  law  was  powerless  against  the  love  of  luxury. 
Garments  of  pure  silk  were  first  used  in  the  third  century. 

270  Colors. — White  was  the  prevailing  color  of  all  articles  of 
dress  throughout  the  Republic,  in  most  cases  the  natural 
color  of  the  wool,  as  we  have  seen  (sj*24r,).  'J'he  lower  classes, 
however,  selected  for  their  garments  shades  that  required 
cleansing  less  frequently,  and  found  them,  too,  in  the  uiidyed 
wool.  From  Canusium  came  a  brown  wool  with  a  tinge  of 
red,  from  Baetica  in  Spain  a  light  yellow,  from  ^Futina  a 
gray  or  a  gray  mixed  with  white,  from  l*ollentia  in  Liguria 
the  dark  gray  {jndht)  use<l,  as  has  been  said  (g'^4()),  for])ublic 
mourning.  Other  shades  from  led  to  deep  black  were 
furnished  bv  forei2:n  wools.  Almost  the  onlv  artificial  color 
used   for  garments   under   the  Republic   was    purple,  which 


DRESS    AND    PERSONAL    ORNAMENTS 

\ 

Keems  to  have  varied  from  what  we  call  crimson,  made  from 
the  native  trnnipet-shell  {burinum  or  /H«/r.c),  to  the  true 
Tvrian  purple.     Tlie  former  was  brilliant  and  cheap,  but 
liable  to  fade.     :Mixed  with  the  dark  purpum  in  different 
proportions,  it  furnished  a  variety  of  permanent  tints.     One 
of  the  most  popular  of  these  tints,  violet,  made  the  wool 
cost  some  *2()  a  pound,  while  the  genuine  Tyrian  cost  at 
least  ten  times  as  much.     Probably  the  stripes  worn  by  the 
knights  and   senators  on   the  tunics  and  togas   were   much 
nearer  our  crimson  than  purple.     Under  the  Empire  the 
garments  worn  bv  women  were  dyed  in  various  colors,  and 
so    too,   perhaps,\he  fancier  articles  worn  by  men,  such  as 
the  lacenia  (§247)  and  the  ><iinthesi>^  (§249).     The  trahca  of 
the   augurs   seems   to   have  been  striped   with  scarlet  and 
purple,^ the  pairulilmentirni  of  the  general  to  have  been  at 
different  times  white,  scarlet,  and  purple,  and  the  robe  of  the 

trluinplidtor  i)urple. 

Manufacture.— In   the  old    days    the  wool  was  spun   at  271 
homo   by  the  nuiidservants  working   under  the  eye    of  the 
mistress  (§l'J'.i),  and  woven  into   cloth  on  the  family   loom,^ 
and  this  was  kei^t  up   throughout  the  Kepnblic  by  some  of 
the  proudest  families.     Augustus  wore  these  home-made  gar- 
ments.    By  the  end  of  the   Republic,  liowever,  this  was   no 
longer  general,  and  while  mu(;h  of  the  native  wool  was  worked 
up   on  "'the    farms    by   the   slaves    directed   by    the    rllira 
(§US),    cloth    of    any  desired  quality  could    be  bought  in 
tiie  open  market.     It  was   formerly  supposed  that  the  gar- 
ments came  from  the  loom  ready  to  wear,  but  this  is  now 
known  to  have  been  incorrect.     We  have  seen  that  the  ttnno 
was  made  of  two  separate  pieces  sewed  together  (§2:5()),  that 
the  toga  had   probably  to  be  fitted  as  carefully  as  a  modern 
coat  (§24:0,  and  that  even  the  coarse  panuao  (§248)  could 
not  ha've  been  woven  or  knitted  in  one  piece.     But  ready-nuide 
garments  were  on   sale  in  the  towns  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Cato,  thouffh  perhaps  of  the  cheaper  qualities  only,  and  in 


182 


TKE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


the  Empire  the  trade  reached  hirge  proportions.  It  is 
remarkable  that  with  the  vast  numbers  of  slaves  in  the 
faniilia  urb(uia  (§141) f.)  it  never  became  usual  to  have  soiled 
garments  cleansed  at  home.  All  garments  showing  traces 
of  use  were  sent  bv  the  well-to-do  to  the  fullers  ( fi'Uotivs)  to 
be  washed  (Fig.  !()(;),  whitened  (or  re-dyed),  niul  pressed. 
The  fact  that  almost  all  were  of  woolen  materials  made  skill 
and  care  all  the  more  necessarv.. 


FiaUKK  lU(i.      FULLEKS  AT  WoiiK 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FOOD  AND  MEALS 

RBFKKKNCKs:  Miiniuardt.  i6)-2C,8.  ■.m-:m.  414-46".:  Voist,  327-329  401 -404 ; 
(Jol)  3I1-4M;  (iuhl  and  K.iuer.  747-7Mt.  702-704;  Fried  lander,  III.,  a>-56:  K„.nsay, 
4..m-s;,U  Paulv-Wlssowa,  cem,,  .-omissom :  Sn.ith,  Harper.  Kieh.  cena  '■'"";;«''''. 
ol.a  (ollva):vmum;  Uaunieister,  84.",,  2080;  Liibker.  724  f.;  Mau-Kelsey,  2o6-2b0, 

267-270. 

Natural  Conditions.     luily  is  Messed  above  all  the  other  272 
countries  of  central  Europe  with  the  natural  conditions  tliat 
go   to  make  an  abundant  jind  varied   supply  of  food.     The 
soil  is  rich  and  composed  of  different  elements  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.     The  rainfall  is  abundant,  and  rivers 
and   smaller  streams  are  numerous.     The  line   of  greatest 
length  runs  nearly  north  and  south,  but  the  climate  depends 
littL  upon  latitude,  being  modified  by  surrounding  bodies  of 
water,  by  mountain  ranges,  and  hy  preyailing  winds.     These 
a<rencies'in  connection  with  the  varying  elevation  of  the  land 
itself  produce  sucli   widely  different  conditions  that  some- 
vviiere  within  the  confines  of  Italy  almost  all  the  grains  and 
fruits  of  the  tempora*:e  and  subtropic  zones  find  the  soil  and 
climate  most  favorable  to  their  growth. 

The    early    inhabitants   of    the    peninsula,    the     Italian  273 
peoples,  seem  to  have  left  for  the  Romans  the  task  of  devel- 
oping   and    improving    those   means   of   subsistence.     A\dd 
fruit'^     nuts,  and    flesh    have    always   been    the    support   of 
uncivilized  peoples,  and  must  have  been  so  for  the  shepherds 
who  laid  the  foundations  of  Rome.     The  very  word  p.rnum 
(from    pecus;    of.   pmVnon,    glCS)     shows    that    herds    of 
domestic  animals  were  the  first  source  of   Roman  wealth 
l>,ut  other  words  show  just  as  clearly  that  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  was  understood  by  the  Romans  in  vcaw  early  times: 

li-3 


184 


THE     rUIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FOOD    AND    MEALS 


185 


the  names  Fabiiis,  Cicero,  Piso,  and  Caepio  are  no  less 
ancient  than  Porcius,  Asiniiis,  Vitellius^  and  OvidiusJ 
Cicero  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  ehler  Cato  the  statement 
that  to  the  farmer  the  garden  was  a  second  meat  supply,  but 
long  before  Cato's  time  meat  had  ceased  to  be  the  chief 
article  of  food.  Grain  and  grapes  and  olives  furnished  sub- 
sistence for  all  who  did  not  live  to  eat.  'J'hese  gave  the  wine 
that  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man,  and  oil  to  make  his  face 
to  shine,  and  bread  that  strengtheneth  man's  heart.  On 
these  three  abundant  products  of  the  soil  the  mass  of  the 
people  of  Italy  lived  of  old  as  they  still  live  to-day.  Some- 
thing will  be  said  of  each  below,  after  less  important 
products  have  been  considered. 
274  Fruits. — Besides  the  olive  and  the  grape,  the  apple,  i)ear, 
plum,  and  (|uince  were  either  native  to  Italy  or  were  intro- 
duced in  prehistoric  times.  Careful  attention  had  long  been 
given  to  their  cultivation,  and  by  Cicero's  time  Italy  was 
covered  with  orchards,  and  all  these  fruits  were  abundant 
and  cheap  in  their  seasons,  use  1  by  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men.  By  this  time,  too,  hud  begun  the  introduction  of 
new  fruits  from  foreign  lands  and  the  improvement  of  native 
varieties.  Great  statesmen  and  generals  gave  their  names 
to  new  and  better  sorts  of  a})plcs  and  pears,  and  vied  with 
each  other  in  producing  fi'uits  out  of  season  by  hothouse 
culture  (>$145).  Every  fresh  extension  of  Koman  territory 
brought  new  fruits  and  nuts  into  Italy.  Among  the  last 
were  the  walmit,  hazelnut,  filbert,  almond,  and  pistachio; 
the  almond  after  Cato \s  time  and  the  pistachio  not  until  that 
of  Tiberius.  Among  the  fruits  were  the  peach  [dhVuih 
Pei'slcuiii)^  the  apricot  (mdhnn  ArnfrHitiffun),  the  pomegran- 
ate {mdlH)))  Puninitn  or  (jn'i iKlfHrn)^  the  cherry  {(entsHs), 
brought  by  LucuUus  from  the  town  Cerasus  in  Pontus,  and 

'  The  words  are  connected  respectively  with  faba,  a  bean,  cicei\ 
a  chick-pea,  p'o^tor,  a  miUer,  cdepe,  an  onion,  /)o?t?/.s\  a  pi^.  ((fii)ins, 
an  ass,  rifcJlHs,  a  calf,  and  (tris,  a  slieep. 


1 


I 


the  Icnon  (citrus),  not  grown  in  Italy  until  the  third  centnry 
of  our  era.  And  besides  the  introduction  of  fruits  lor 
culture  large  quantities  were  imported  for  food,  either  dried 
or  otherwise  preserved.  The  orange,  however,  strange  as  it 
seems  to  us,  was  not  grown  by  the  Komans.  ,,.,„« 

Garden  Produce.-The  garden  did  not  yield  to  the  orchard  275 
in   the  abundance  and  variety  of  its  contributions  to  the 
supply  of  food.     We  read  of  artichokes,  asparagus,  beans, 
beets,  cabbages,  carrots,  chicory,  cucumbers,  gariic   lentils 
melons,  onions,  peas,  the  poppy,  pumpkins,  radishes    and 
turnips,  to  mention  those  only  whose  names  are  familiar  to 
us   -ill      It   will   be  noticed,  however,  that    the    vegetables 
most  highly  prized  by  us,  perhaps,  the  potato  and  tomato, 
were  not  known  to  the  Romans.     Of  those  mentioned  the 
oldest  seem  to  have  been  the  bean  and  the  onion,  as  sho^v,l 
bv  the  names  Fal.ius  and  Caepio  already  mentioned  {^.,o) 
l.ut  the  latter  came  gradually  to  be  looked  upon  as  unrefined 
and  the  former  to  be  considered  too  heavy  a  food  except  h.r 
persons  engaged  in  the  hardest  toil.     Cato  pronounced  the 
cabbage  the  finest  vegetable  known,  and  the  turnip  figures 
in  the  well-known  anecdote  of  Manius  Curius  (rW^- 

The  Roman  gardener  gave  great  attention,   too,  to   the  276 
raising  of  green  stuffs  tliat  could  be  used  for  salads.    Among 
these   the  sorts  most  often    mentioned    are    the  cress  and 
lettuce,   with  whh.h  we  are  familiar,   an.l   tlie   mallow,   no 
longer  used  for  fo...l.     Plants   in   great  variety  were  culti- 
vated for  seasoning.     The  poppy  was  eaten  with  honey  as  a 
ae-sert,  or  was  sprinkled   over  bread  in   the  oven.     Anise, 
,.umin,  fennel,  mint,  and  mustard  were  raised  everyuhere. 
\ud    besides   these   seasonings   that   were   found    m   every 
kitchen  garden,   spices  were  imported    in   large  <,uan.ities 
from  the  east,  and  the  rich   imported  vegetables  of   laigei 
sizes  or  finer  quality  than  could  be  raised   f  l-"-'        f^' 
vegetables  like  fresh   fruits  could   not   be  brought  m  those 
(lavs  from  great  distances. 


\ 


186 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FOOD    AND    MEALS 


187 


277  Meats. — Besides  the  pork,  beef,  and  iniitton  tliut  we  still 
use  the  Roman  farmer  had  goatsflesh  at  his  disposal,  and  all 
these  meats  were  sokl  in  the  towns,  (ioatsflesh  was  con- 
sidered the  poorest  of  all,  and  was  used  by  tlie  lower  classes 
only.  P)eef  had  been  eaten  by  the  Romans  from  the  earliest 
times,  but  its  use  Ayas  a  mark  of  luxury  until  yery  bite  in  the 
Empire.  Under  the  Republic*  the  ordinary  citizen  ate  beef 
only  on  great  occasions  when  he  had  offered  a  steer  or  cow 
to  the  gods  in  sacrifice.  The  ilesh  then  furnished  a  banquet 
for  his  family  and  friends,  the  heart,  h'yer,  and  lungs  (called 
collectiyely  the  ej'fff)  were  the  share  of  the  priest,  and  the 
rest  was  consumed  on  the  altar.  Probably  the  great  size  of 
the  carcass  had  somethiiiii;  to  do  with  the  rarity  of  its  use  at 
a  time  when  meat  could  be  kept  fresh  only  in  the  coldest 
weather;  at  any  rate  we  must  think  of  tlie  Romans  as  usin^f 
the  cow  for  dairy  purposes  and  the  ox  for  draft  rather  than 
for  food. 

278  Pork  was  widely  used  by  rich  and  i>oor  alike,  and  was 
considered  the  choicest  of  all  domestic  meats.  The  yery 
language  testifies  to  the  important  place  it  occupied  in 
the  economy  of  the  larder,  for  no  other  animal  has  so  many 
words  to  descri])e  it  in  its  different  functioiis.  Besides  the 
g(meral  term  sfls  we  fiiul  jxfrcHs^  porcit^  rcrres^  apvr^  scroftf^ 
ffHliulL^^  and  nefre)is.  In  the  religious  ceremony  of  the 
su()vef((f(rlJI((  {sfls  f  (iris  -f  frnfrHs)  it  will  be  noticed  that 
the  sw^ine  has  the  first  place,  (*oming  before  the  sheep  and  the 
bull.  The  yooabulary  describing  the  pjirts  used  for  food  is 
equally  rich;  there  are  words  for  no  less  thaji  half  a  dozen 
kinds  of  sausages,  for  example,  with  pork  as  their  basis.  We 
read,  too,  of  fifty  different  ways  of  cooking  pork. 

279  Fowl  and  Game. — All  the  common  domestic  fowls, 
chickens,  ducks,  geese,  ;nid  ])igeons,  were  used  by  the 
Romans  for  food,  and  besides  these  the  w^ealthy  raised  vari- 
oiis  sorts  of  wild  fowl  for  the  table,  in  the  ffdme  preserves 
that    have    been    nientioiieil    (jJ14o).       Among    these     were 


tf 


cranes,  grouse,  partridges,  snipe,  thrnshes,  and  woodcock. 
In  Cicero's  time  the  peacock  was  most  highly  esteemed, 
having  at  the  feast  mnch  the  same  place  of  honor  as  the 
tnrkev  has  with  us,  but  costing  as  much  as  $10  each  \\  ild 
aninnils  were  also  bred  for  food  in  similar  preserves,  the  haro 
und  the  wild  boar  being  the  favorites.  The  latter  was  served 
whole  upon  the  table  as  in  feudal  times.  As  a  contrast 
in  size   may  be  mentioned  the  dormouse  (i//I.v),  which  was 

thought  a  great  delicacy. 

Fish  -The  rivers  of  Italy  and  the  surrounding  seas  must  280 
have  furnished  always  a  great  variety  of  fish,  but  in  cariy 
times  fish  was  not  much  used  as  food  by  the  Romans      By 
the  end  of  the  Republic,  however,  tastes  had  changed,  and 
no  article  of  food  brought  higher  prices  than  the  rarer  sorts 
of  fresh   fish.     Salt   fish    was   exceedingly    cheap    and    was 
imported  in  many  forms  from  almost  all  the  Mediteiianeau 
ports.     One  dish  especially,  fJiroiarleJn,^,  made  ot  salt  fish 
ecrgs    and  cheese,  and  therefore  something  like  our  codfish 
balls,  is  mentioned  by  Cicero  in  about  the  same  way  as  wo 
speak  of  hash.     Fresh  fish   were   all   the   more  expensive 
because  they  could  be  transported  only  while  alive.      Hence 
the  rich  construrted  fish   ponds  on  their  estates,  a  Marcus 
l.icinius  Crassus  setting  the  example  in  '.H  n.c.    and  both 
fresh-water  and  salt-water  fish  were  raised  for  the  table,    riie 
names  of  the  favorite  sorts  mean  little  to  us,  but  w^  find  the 
nuillet  {n,nUm:  see  §-^51)  and  a  kind  of  turl.ot  {rhoMO^c.) 
bringing  high  prices,  and  oysters  {ostreac)  were  as  popular 

as  they  are  now. 

l^efore  passing  to  the  more  important  mutters  ot  brea.l,  281 
wine,  and  oil,  it  may  be  well  to  mention  a  few  articles  that 
are  still  in  general  use.  The  Konians  used  freely  the 
products  of  the  dairy,  milk,  cream,  curds,  whey  and  cheese 
Thev  drank  the  milk  of  sheep  and  goats  as  well  as  that  ot 
cows,  and  made  cheese  of  the  three  kinds  of  milk  The 
cheese  from  ewes'  milk  was  th.)ught  more  digestible  though 


188 


THE    TKIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


less  palatable  than  that  made  of  cows'  milk,  while  cheese 
from  goats'  milk  was  more  palatable  but  less  digestible.  It 
is  remarkable  that  they  had  no  knowledge  of  butter  except 
as  a  plaster  for  wounds.  Honey  took  the  place  of  sugar  on 
the  table  and  iu  cooking,  for  the  Romans  had  only  a 
botanical  knowledge  of  the  sugar  cane.  Salt  was  at  first 
obtained  by  the  evaporation  of  sea- water,  but  was  afterwards 
mined.  Its  manufacture  was  a  monopoly  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  care  was  taken  always  to  keep  the  price  low.  It 
was  used  not  only  for  seasoning,  but  also  as  a  })reservative 
agent.  A'inegar  was  made  from  grape  juice.  In  the  list  of 
articles  of  food  unknown  to  the  Komans  we  must  put  tea 
and  coffee  along  with  the  orange,  tomato,  potato,  butter, 
and  sugar  already  mentioned. 
282  Cereals. — The  word  frumentuin^  was  a  general  term 
applied  to  any  of  the  many  sorts  of  grain  that  were  grown 
for  food.  Of  those  now  in  use  barley,  oats,  rye,  and  wheat 
were  known  to  the  Romans,  though  rye  was  not  cultivated 
and  oats  served  only  as  feed  for  cattle,  l^arley  was  not 
nuich  used,  for  it  was  thought  to  lack  nutriment,  and  there- 
fore to  be  unfit  for  laborers.  In  very  ancient  times  another 
grain,  spelt  {/((i')-,  had  been  grown  extensively,  but  it  had 
gradually  gone  out  of  use  except  for  the  sacrificial  cake 
that  had  given  its  name  to  the  confarreate  ceremony  of  nuir- 
riage  (>$S2).  In  classical  times  wheat  was  the  staple  grain 
grown  for  food,  not  differing  nuich  from  that  which  we  use 
to-day.  It  was  usually  planted  in  the  fall,  though  on  some 
soils  it  would  mature  as  a  spring  wheat.     After  the  farming 

^  The  word  fnltuenfffni  occurs  fifty-live  times  in  the  "Gallic? 
War/'  meaning  any  kind  of  grain  that  happened  to  be  grown  for 
food  in  the  country  in  which  Caesar  was  campaignin;2^  at  the  time. 
The  word  "corn"  used  to  translate  it  in  our  school  editions  is  the 
worst  })ossible,  becuiuse  to  the  schoolboy  the  word  **corn''  means  a 
particular  kind  of  grain,  and  a  kind  at  that  which  was  unknown 
to  the  Romans.  The  general  w(^rd  *' grain ''  is  much  ]>etter  for 
translation  purposes. 


FOOD    ANT)    MEALS 


189 


283 


FuaTKK  107.    P«>uNi)iNu  Grain 


iMud  of  Ttalv  was  diverted  to  other  purposes  (parl<s,  pleasure 
grounds,  game   preserves:  see  ^§145,  Ur>),  wheat  had   lobe 
Tniported    from   the    provinces, 
lirst    from    Sicily,    then    from 
Africa  and  Egypt,  the  home  sup- 
ply   l)eing     inade(iuate     to    the 
needs  of  the  teeming  popuhition. 
Preparation  of  the  Grain. — In 
the  earliest  times  the  grain  {far) 
had  not  been  grouud/l)ut  merely 

pounded  in  a  mortar  (Fig.  lOT). 
The  meal  was  then  mixed  with 
water  and  nuule  into  a  sort  of 
pm-ridge  {))f(Is,  Avhence  our  word 
"poultice^^),  which  long  re- 
mained the  national  dish,  s<mie- 

thing  like  the    oatmeal   of    Scotland.      Plautus    (tlS4   i>x 
iestingly  refers  to  his  countrymen  as  -pulse-eaters  1  ho 

i^'^^   ^  ^  persons  who  crushed  the 

grain  were  called  jnnsi- 
/rnrs  or  jnsf (Ires,  whence 
the  cognomen  Flsd  (§-T3) 
is  said  to  he  derived,  and 
in  later  times  the  bakers 
were  also  called  plstdres, 
because  they  ground  the 


crrain  as  well  as  baked  the 
bread.  In  the  ruins  of 
bakeries  we  find  mills  as 
regidarly  as  ovens.  See 
the  Illustration  in  S'^Sf). 

The    grinding  of   the  284 
irrjiin    into    regular    fiour 


D 


FrorRK  los.    Skctiox  of  Mill 


.vas  done  in  u  ..ill  (,../.)■     '^^i^  -.nsiBted  of  thmM-arls   i1h 
Zer  .nUstone  (.eta),  tl.e   upper  (..////..),  a..l  ihe  tranu- 


190 


THK    riUVATK     J.IFK    OF    TIIK     KOMAXS 


FOOD    AND    MKALS 


191 


A  PoMPKiAX  !MiM,  wrrnoi  tIts  Fi{amp>work 


work  tluit  surroundiMl  and  supported  tlie  latter  and  furnished 
the  means  to  turn   it  upon   the   mcfa.      All  these  parts  are 

shown  distinetly  in  the 
cut  (Fig.  ]08;  see  also 
Rich,  Harper,  and  Smith 
under  nfohi;  (luhl  and 
Koner,  p.  774;  Sehreiher 
LXVIl;  Haumeister,  p. 
9')3),  and  require  little 
explanation.  The  n)e[(( 
w^as,  as  the  name  sug- 
gests, a  cone-shaped  stone 
(J)  resting  on  a  hed  of 
masonry  (  />  )  with  a 
raised  rim,  hetween  which 
and  the  lower  edge  of  tlu^ 
'inefa  the  Hour  was  col- 
lected. In  the  ui)per  part  of  the  mefa  a  beam  {(')  Avas 
mortised,  endiitg  a])ove  in  an  iron  pin  or  pivot  (/>)  on  which 
hung  and  turned  the  frame- 
work that  supported  the  cdfil- 
h(s.  The  cafillus  (B)  itself 
was  shaped  something  like  an 
hourglass,  or  two  funnels 
joined  at  the  neck.  The  upper 
funnel  served  as  a  hopper  into 
which  the  grain  was  poured; 
the  h)w^er  funnel  fitted  closely 
over  the  mefa^  the  distance 
between  them  being  regulated 
by  the  length  of  the  pin, 
mentioned  above,  according 
to    the    fineness   of    the    Hour 


285 


Frutrk  110.    Horse  and  Mill 

desired.     The  mill  without  frame-work  is  shown  in  Fig.  100. 
The  frame- work  was  verv  stronor  and  massive  on  account 


of  the  heavy  weight  thai  was  suspended  from  it.  The 
beams  used  for  turning  the  mill  were  fitted  into  holes  ni  the 
narrow  part  of  the  ratiUiis  as  shown  in  the  cut.  The  power 
required  to  do  the  grinding  was  furnished  by  horses  or  mules 
attached  to  the  beams  (Fig.  HO),  or  by  slaves  pushing 
acrainst  them.  ^I^his  last  method  was  often  used  as  a  pun- 
isllment,  as  we  have  seen  (gSlTD,  US).  Of  the  same  form 
but  much  smaller  were  the  hand  mills  used  by  soldiers  tor 


FinrRF.  Ml.    JUKERY  WITH  Mills 


grinding  the  fnunnUnm  fnrnisl.ed  them  as  rations.     Under 
the  Empire  water  mills  were  introduced,  but  they  are  haidly 

referred  to  in  literature.  ,-.,oo-.    k.„o,i  286 

The  transition  from  the  ancient  porrulge  (§->S.5,  to  bre  d  286 
baked  in  the  modern  fashion  must  have  been  thi-ough    he 
medium  of  thin  cakes  baked  in  or  over  the  fire.     ^^  e  do  not 
know  when  bread  baked  in  ovens  came  into  use.      Bakers 
(l?->8:5)  as  representatives  of  a  trade  do  not  go  back  beyo.ul 


u 


192 


TilK    PRFVATK    LIKE    OF    THK    KiniAKS 


FOOD     AND    MEALS 


103 


171  r..('.,  ])ufc  1oii<j:  hoforo  iliis  tiino,  of  course,  ilio  family 
bread  had  boon  made  by  the  iiidh'r /(utnlids^  or  ])y  a  shivo 
under  lier  su})ervisiou.  After  pul)lie  bakeries  were  ouco 
established  it  became  less  and  less  usual  for  ])read  to  be 
made  in  private  houses  in  the  towns.  Only  the  most  pre- 
tentious of  the  city  mansions  had  ovens  attached,  as  shown 
hy  the  ruins.  In  the  country,  on  the  other  hand,  the  older 
custom  was  always  retained  (gl4S).  Under  Trajan  (OS-llS) 
it  became  the  custom  to  distribute  bread  to  the  people  daily, 
instead  of  grain  once  a  month,  and  the  1)al\ers  were  organ- 
ized into  a  guild  (ro/yvz/.v,  roUef/luiu)^  and  as  a  corporation 
enjoyed  certain  privileges  and  immunities.  In  Fig.  Ill  are 
shown  the  ruins  of  a  Pompeian  bakery  with  several  mills  in 
connection  with  it. 

287  Breadmaking. — After  the  flour  collected  about  the  edge 
of   the  ntefd   (i'l^-i)    had   l)een   sifted,   water  and  salt   were 

added  and  the  dough  w^as  kneaded 
in  a  trough  by  hand  or  by  a  sim- 
])le  machine  shown  in  the  cut  in 
Schreiber  LXVTI.  Yeast  w^as  add- 
ed as  nowadays  and  the  bread  was 
baked  in  an  oven  much  like  those 
still  found  in  parts  of  Europe. 
One  preserved  in  the  ruins  of  Pom- 
peii is  shown  in  the  cut  (Fig. 
1 1*^):  at  ((  is  the  oven  proper,  in  which  a  fire  was  built,  the 
draft  being  furnished  by  the  openings  at  d.  The  surround- 
ing chamber,  /v,  is  intended  to  retain  the  heat  after  the  fire 
(usually  of  charcoal)  had  been  raked  out  into  the  ashpit,  e^ 
and  the  vents  closed.  The  letter  /*  marks  a  receptacle  for 
water,  which  seems  to  have  been  used  for  moistening  the 
bread  while  baking.  After  the  oven  had  been  heated  to  the 
proper  temperature  and  the  fire  raked  out,  the  loaves  were 
put  in,  the  vents  closed,  aiid  the  bread  left  to  bake. 

288  'I'here  were  several  (pialities  of  bread,  varying  with   the 


)fmm^.-pr.^'T^T 


FlOrRK   U-.        OVKV    FOR    BRKAJ) 


»^ 


f  / 


(. 


/ 


r 


Y 


sort  of  grain,  the  setting  of  tlu^  millstones  (§•^^l)  and    the 
lineness  of   the  sieves  (§'is; ).      The  very  best,  uvaAo.  of  pure 
wheat-tloui-,  was  called  /nhn's  sUh/nrHs;  that  made  of  coarse 
flour,  of  flour  and  bran,  or  of  bran  alone  was  called  /Hhiis 
pJvheius,    cadrensis,    sordidiis,    rilstlcus,   etc.     The    loaves 
were  circular  and  rather  flat— some  have  been  found  in  tho 
ruins  of  Pompeii— and  had  their  surface  marked  off  by  lines 
drawn  from  the  center  into  four  or  more  parts.     The  wall 
painting  (Fig.  li:))  of  a  salesroom  of  a  bakery,  also  found  in 
Pompeii,   gives    a  good 
idea  of  the  ai>pearance 
of  the  bread,     ^^lrious 
kinds  of  cakes  and  con- 
fections were   also  sold 
at  these  shops. 

The  Olive.— Next  in 
importance  to  the  wheat 
came  the  olive.  It  was 
introduced  into  Italy 
from  Greece,  and  from 
Italy  has  spread  through 
all  the  Mediterranean 
countries;  but  in  mod- 
ern as  well  as  in  ancient 
times  the  best  olives  are 

iliose  of  Italy.  The  olive  was  an  important  article  of  food 
merely  as  a  fruit,  being  eaten  both  fresh  and  preserved  in 
various  wavs,  but  it  found  its  significant  place  in  the  domes- 
tic economy  of  the  Romans  in  the  form  of  the  olive  od  with 
which  we  are  familiar.  It  is  the  value  of  the  oil  that  has 
caused  the  cultivation  of  the  olive  to  become  so  general  m 
southern  Euroi>e,  and  it  is  claimed  that  its  use  is  constantly 
widening,  extending  especially  northward,  where  wine  and 
oil  are  said  to  be  supplanting  the  native  beer  and  butter. 
xMany  varieties  were  known  to  the  Uomans,  recjuiring  difEer- 


289 


FioiTBE  113.    ,Sai.esr<k)M  of  Bakery 


194 


THE    PKTVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FOOD     AND    MEALS 


195 


Figure  114.    Picking  Olives 


ent  elinuites   and  soils  and  udapted    to  different  uses.     In 
general  it  may  be  said  that  the  hirger  berries  were  better 
suited  for  eating  than  for  oil. 
290        The  olive  was  eaten  fresh   as  it  ripened  and  was  also 
preserved  in  various  ways.     The  ripe  olives  were  sprinkled 

with  salt  and  left  untouched  for  five 
days;  the  salt  was  then  shaken  off, 
and  the  olives  dried  in  the  sun. 
They  were  also  preserved  sweet  with- 
out salt  in  boiled  must  (§21)0). 
Half  ripe  olives  were  picked  (Fig. 
114)  with  their  stems  and  covered 
over  in  jars  with  the  best  quality  of 
oil;  in  this  way  they  are  said  to  have 
retained  for  more  than  a  year  the 
flavor  of  the  fresh  fruit.  Green 
olives  w^ere  preserved  whole  in 
strong  brine,  the  form  in  which  we  know  them  now,  or  were 
beaten  into  a  mass  and  preserved  with  spices  and  vinegar. 
The  preparation  epitT/rtim  was  made  by  taking  the  fruit  in 
any  of  the  three  stages,  removing  the  stones,  chopping  up 
the  pulp,  seasoning  it  with  vinegar,  coriander  seeds,  cumin, 
fennel,  and  mint,  and  covering  the  mixture  in  jars  with  oil 
enough  to  exclude  the  air.  The  result  was  a  salad  that  was 
eaten  with  cheese. 
201  Olive  Oil. — The  oil  was  used  for  several  purposes.  It 
was  employed  most  anciently  to  anoint  the  body  after 
bathing,  especially  by  athletes ;  it  was  nsed  as  a  vehicle  for  per- 
fumes, the  liomans  knowing  nothing  of  distillation  by  means 
of  alcohol;  it  was  burned  in  lamps  (§228);  it  w^as  an  indis- 
pensable article  of  food.  As  a  food  it  was  employed  as 
butter  is  now  in  cooking  or  as  a  relish  or  dressing  in  its  nat- 
ural state.  The  olive  when  subjected  to  pressure  yields  two 
fluids.  The  first  to  flow^  {amnrca)  is  dark  and  bitter,  hav- 
ing the  consistency  of  water.     It  w^as  largely  used  as  a  fer- 


tilizer  but  not  as  a  food.     ^Fhe  second,  which  flows  after 
greater  pressure,  is  the  oil  {olenm.  nhum  n/lr^nn).     Tlio  ])est 
oil  was  made  from  olives   not 
fully  ripe,  but  the  largest  quan- 
tity was  yielded  by  the  ripened 

fruit. 

The  olives  were  picked  from 

the  tree  (Fig.  lU),  those  that 

fell  of  their  own  accord  being 

thought    inferior  (§100),    and  ,        ,    ,  ^, 

were    spread    upon  sloping   platforms   in  order  tha    a  par 

of  theanncrra  might  flow  out  by   itself.     Here    the    truit 

remained   until  a  slight  fermentation    tm)k    Pl^^^'^-     ?     ^ 

then  subjected  to  the  action  of  a  machine  (Mg.  H.)  that 


292 


FioTRE  11">.    Olive  Mill, 


Fun-KK  lli;.    Vailt  fok  St.»hin<*  Oil 

bruised  and  pressed  it.  The  oil  that  llowed  out  was  caught 
in  a  iar  and  from  it  ladled  into  a  receptacle  {labnmfict,^, 
^vhere  it  was  allowed  to  settle,  the  a>nurca  and  other  impuri- 
ties falling  to  the  bottom.  The  oil  was  «-n  Bkimmed  c^f 
into  another  like  receptacle  and  again  allowed  to  settle,  the 


i 


lOG 


THE    I'lJTVATR    T.IfK    OK    TIIK    ItO.MAXfl 


FOOD    AND    MKALS 


197 


|)roccss  hciiiir  n>iR-aU'(l  (as  oltc-n  as  Uiirty  limes  if  iiwessary) 
until  all    imi)iiri(i(>s  l.a<l   Ix-eM  left  heiiiiid.      The  l)est  oil  was 
made  by  subjecting;   the  berries  at   Hrst  to  a  gentle  pressure 
only.     The  bruised  piilj)  was  then  taken  out,  se])arated  from 
the  stones  or  pits,  and  pressed  a  seeond  or  even  a  tliird  time, 
the  quality  becoming  poorer  each  time.     The  oil   was  kept 
in  jars  which  were  glazed  on  tiie  inside  with  wax  or  sum 
to  prevent  absorption,  the  covers  were  carefully  secui-ed'and 
the  jars  stored  away  in  vaults  (Fig.  IKJ). 
293        Grapes.— (Jrapes  were  eaten  fresh   from   tlie  vines  and 
were  also  dried  in  tlie  sun  and  kept  as  raisins,  but  they  owed 
their  real  importance  in  Italy  as  elsewliere  to  the  wine  made 
from   them.     The  vine   was  not    native    to  Italv,   as  until 
recently  it  was  sup])osed  to  be,  but  was  introduced,  probably 
from  (Ireece,  long  before  history  begins.     The  earliest  name 
for  Italy  known   to  the   (ireeks  was  Oenotria,  "the   land  of 
the  vine-pole,"  and   very  ancient  legends  ascribe  to  Kuma 
restrictions  upon  the  use  of  wine.     It  is  probable  that  up  to 
the  time  of  the  (iracchi  wine  was  rare  and  exitensive.     The 
quantity  produced  gradually  increased  as  the  cultivation  of 
cereals   declined   (gUO),    but    the    quality   long    remained 
inferior,  all  the  choice  wines  being  imported  from  (ireece 
and  the  east.     By  Cicero's  time,   however,   attention   was 
being  given  to  viticulture   and  to  the  scientific  making  of 
wines,  and  by  the  time  of  Augustus  vintages  were  produced 
that  vied   with   the  best  brought    in   from  abroad.      I'liny, 
writing  about  the  middle  of  the  first  century  of  our  era,  says 
that  of  the  eighty  really  clioice  wines  then  known  to  the 
Komans  two-thirds  were  produced  in   Italy,  and   Arrian  of 
about  the  same  time  says  that  Italian  wines  were  famous  as 
far  awav  as  India. 

294  Viticulture.— (Jrapes  coidd  1)3  grown  almost  anywhere  in 
Italy,  but  the  best  wines  were  made  soutli  of  Rome  within 
the  confines  of  Latium  and  Campania.  The  cities  of 
Praeneste,  A'elitrae,  and  Fnrmiae  were  famous  for  the  wines 


grown  on  the  sunny  slopes  of  the  Alban  hills.  A  little 
farther  south,  near  Terracina,  was  the  a(jvr  ('necubus,  where 
was  produced  the  Caecuban  wine,  pronounced  by  Augustus 
the  noblest  of  all.  IMien  comes  Mt.  Massicus  with  the  (ujer 
Filler HfiH  on  its  southern  side,  producing  the  Falernian 
wines,  even  more  f anions  than  the  Caecul)an.  Upon  and 
around  Vesuvius,  too,  fine  wines  were  grown,  especially  near 
Naples,  Pompeii,  Cumae,  and  Surrentum.  (iood  wines  but 
less  noted  than  these  were  produced  in  the  extreme  south, 
near  lieneventum,  Anion,  and  Tarentum.  Of  like  quality 
were  those  grown  east  and  north  of  Kome,  near  Spoletium, 
Caeseiui,  Kavenna,  lladria,  and  Ancona.  Those  of  the  north 
and  west,  in  Etruria  and  (Jaul,  were  not  so  good. 

Vineyards.— The  sunny  side  of  a  hill  was  the  best  place  295 
for  a  vineyard.  The  vines  were  supported  by  poles  or 
trellises  in  the  modern  fashion,  or  were  planted  at  the  foot 
of  trees  np  which  they  were  allowed  to  climb.  For  this 
purpose  the  elm  {fdmus)  was  preferred,  because  it  flourished 
everywhere,  could  be  closely  trimmed  without  endangering 
its  life,  and  had  leaves  that  made  good  food  for  cattle  when 
they  were  plucked  off  to  admit  the  sunshine  to  the  vines. 
Vergil  speaks  of  "marrying  the  vine  to  the  elm,"  and 
Horace  calls  the  plane  tree  a  bacheh^r  {p/((f(uni.s  codebs), 
because  its  dense  foliage  made  it  unfit  for  the  vineyard. 
Before  the  gathering  of  the  grapes  the  chief  work  lay  in 
keeping  the  ground  clear;  it  was  spaded  over  once  each 
month  through  the  year.      One  man  could  properly  care  for 

about  four  acres. 

Wine  Making.— The  making  of  the  wine  took  place  296 
usually  in  Septeml)er,  the  season  varying  with  the  soil  and 
the  climate.  It  was  anticipated  by  a  festival,  the  v'uwJia 
nlsfira,  celebrated  on  the  lUth  of  August.  Precisely  what 
the  festival  meant  the  Komans  themselves  did  not  fully 
u!iderstand,  perhaps,  but  it  was  probably  intended  to  secure 
a  favorable  season  for  the  gathering  of  the  grapes.     The 


198 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FOOD    AND    MEALS 


199 


Fkhtre  117.    Makino  WrNE 


general  process  of  making  the  wine  differed  little  from  that 
familiar  to  us  in  Bible  stories  and  still  i)racticed  in  modern 

^ times.    After  the  grapes 

f^^^^         ^^A-     I      were  gathered  they  were 

first    trodden  with    the 
bare  feet  (Fig.  IIT)  and 
then  pressed  in  the  pre- 
h())i  or    torcuJar,     The 
juice  as  it  came  from  the 
press    was    called    mus- 
tum^   "new,"  and    was 
often  drunk  unferment- 
ed,  as  ''sweet''  cider  is 
now.     It  could   be  kept 
sweet   from  vintage   to 
vintage  by  being  sealed  in  a  jar  smeared  within  and  with- 
out with  pitch  and  immersed  for  several  weeks  in  cold  water 
or  buried  in   moist  sand.      It  was  also  preserved   by  evapo- 
ration over  a    fire;  when   it  was    reduced  one-half  in  this 
way  it  became  a  grai)e-jelly  {(lefrHftim)  and  was   used   as  a 
basis  for  various  beverages  and  for  other  purposes  (§21)0). 
297        Fermented   wine   {chium)   was   made    by   collecting    the 
Hiusfum  in  huge  vat-like  jars  {fldlia,   shown  in   Fig.  IKJ), 
large    enough   to   hide   a    man    and    containing    a    hundred 
gallons  or  more.      These  were  covered  with  pitch  within  and 
without  and   partially  buried   in   the   ground   in   cellars  or 
vaults  {rlndriae  crUac),  in  which  they  remained  permanently. 
After  they  were  nearly  filled  with  the  unisfmn,  they  were  left 
uncovered  during  the  process  of  fermentation,  which  lasted 
under  ordinary  circumstances  about  nine  days.      Thev  were 
then  tightly  sealed  and  opened  only  when  the  wine  re(|uired 
attention^  or  was  to  be  removed.      The  cheaper  wines  were 

^Spoiled  wine  was  used  as  vinegar  [acetinn),  and  vinegar  that 
became  insipid  and  tasteless  was  called  vappa.  This  last  word  was 
used  also  as  a  term  of  reproach  for  shiftless  and  worthless  men. 


/ 


used  directly  from  the  doUa,  but  the  choicer  kinds  were 
drawn  off  after  a  year  into  smaller  jars  {amphorae),  clarified 
and  sometimes  '^ doctored^ ^  in  various  ways,  and  finally 
stored  in  depositories  often  entirely  distinct  from  the  cellars 


Figure  118.    Wine  Cellar 


(Fig.  118).  A  favorite  place  was  a  room  in  the  upper  story 
of  the  house,  where  the  wine  was  artificially  aged  by  the  heat 
risino-  from  the  furnace  or  even  by  the  smoke  escaping  from 
the  fire.  The  amplnn'ae  were  sometimes  marked  with  the 
name  of  the  wine,  and  the  names  of  the  consuls  for  the  year 
in  which  tliey  were  filled. 

Beverages.— After  water  and  milk,  wine  was  the  ordinary 
drink   of  the  Komans  of  all  classes.     It  must  be  distinctly 
understood,  however,  that  they  always  mixed  it  with  water 
and  used  more  water  than  wine.      IMiny  mentions  one  sort 
of  wine  that  would  stand  being  mixed  with   eight  times  its 
own  bulk  of  water.     To  drink  wine  unmixed  was  thought 
typical  of  barbarism,  and  among  the  Romans  it  was  so  drunk 
(mly  by  the  dissipated  at  their  wildest  revels.     Under  the 
Empire  the  ordinary  qualities  of  wine  were  cheap  enough  to 
be  sold  at  three  or  four  cents  a  quart  (S:^^S);  the  choicer 
kinds  were  very  costly,  entirely  beyond  the  reach,  Horace 
gives   us  to   understand,    of   a  man    in   his    circumstances. 
More   rarely   used  than  wine    were    other    beverages    that 
are  mentioned   in  literature.     A  favorite    dritik    was    ///?//- 
.sHin,  made  of    four  measures  of    wine  and  one    of   honey. 
A     mixture  of  water    and    honey  allowed    to  ferment    to- 
gether   was    called    viuha.      Cider    also  was    made    by   the 
Romans,    and    wines    from    mulberries    and    dates.       They 


98 


200 


THE    I'lUVATK    LIl'K    OV    TIIK    KoMANS 


l-OOl)    AND    MEALS 


201 


also  made  variou^ordials  from  aromatic  plants,  but  it  must 
be  remembered  (§-^81)  that  they  luid  no  knowledge  of  %i  or 
coffee. 

299       Style  of  Living.— The  tal)le  supplies  of  a  given  people 
vary  from   age   to  age  witli   the  development  of  civilization 
and  refinement,  and   in   tiio  same  age  with   the  means  and 
tastes  of  classes  and  individuals.     Of  the  Komans  it  may  bo 
said  that  during  the  early  K'epublic,  perhaps  almost  through 
the  second  century  B.C.,  they  cared  little  for  the  pleasures 
of  the  table.     They  lived  frugally  and  ate  sparingly.     They 
were  almost  strictly  vegetarians  (^--iT)}),  much  of  their  food 
was  eaten  cold,  and  the  utmost  sini])licity  characterized  the 
cooking  and    the  service  of    their  meals.     Everything  Avas 
prepared    by  tlio    i>H7/cr  fauuUds   or   by  the   maidservants 
under   her    stij)ervision    (§'.)(»).     The    table    was  set  in    tlie 
iltrinm    (§1S,S),    and    the  father,   mother,   and  children  sat 
around   it  on   stools  or   benches  {%'tib),  waiting  upon  each 
other  and  their  guests  (§104).     Dependents  ate  of  the  same 
food,  but  ajmrt  from   the  family.     The  dishes  were  of  the 
plainest  sort,   of    eartlienwaro  or    even  of  wood,   though  a 
silver  saltcelhir   was  often   the  cherisiied   ornament  of    the 
humblest  board.     Table  knives  and   forks  were    unknown, 
the  food  being  cut  into  convenient  portions  before  it  was 
served,  and  spoons  l)eing  used  to  convey  to  the  moutli  what 
the   fingers   could   not  manage.     During   this   period   there 
was  little  to  choose  between   the  fare  of  the  proudest  patri- 
cian and  the  humblest  client.     The  Samidte  envoys  found 
Manius  Curius,  the  conqueror  of  Pyrrlius  {'I'ib  B.C.),  eating 
his  dinner  of  vegetables   i^l^b)  from  an  earthen  bowl.     A 
century  later  the  poet   Plautus  calls  his  countrymen  a  race 
of  porridge  eaters  {pulliph(ujonulne,  §283),  and  gives  us  to 
understand  that  in  his  time  even  the  wealthiest  T.'omans  had 
in   their   households   no  spe(;ially   trained   cooks.     When    a 
dinner  out  of  the  ordinary  was  given,  a   professional   cook 
was  hired,  who  brought  with  him  to  the  liouse  of  the  host 


t 


his    utensils   a,id   helpers,    just   as   a   plumber   or   surgeon 
responds  to  a  call  nowadays.  tl.Uaoo 
The   last  two   centuries  of   the    Republic    saw   all     his  300 
changed.     The  conquest  of  Greece  aiul  ti.e  wars  m  Asia 
Mimfr   gave   the   Romans   a   taste   of   eastern   luxury,   and 
altered  their  simple  table  customs,   as  other  customs  had 
been  altered  by  like  contact  with  the  outside  Nv-orld  (?.?.o, 
101   112,  r.»2)."    From  this  time  the  p.n.r  and  the  ricli  no 
longer  fared  alike.     The  former  constrained  by  poverty  lived 
frutally  as  of  old :  every  schoolboy  knows  that  the  soldiers 
wh^  won  Caesar^s  battles  for  him  ^-'^'^-^ .,f-'\^^;-^f  ,^"' 
note),  which   they  ground  in  their  handnuHs  and  baked  at 
their  canipiires.     The  very  ri.-b,  on  the  other  baud,  aping 
the   liixurv  of   the  Greeks   but   lacking   their   refinement 
became  gluttons   instead   of   gourmands.     They  ransacked 
the  world'  for  articles  of  food,  preferring  the  rare  and    he 
costly    to    what   was   really    palatable    and   delicate.     Ihcy 
measured  the  feast  by  the  quantities  they  could  .-onsume 
reviving  the  sated  appetite  V>y  piquant  sauces  and  resorting 
to  emefics  to  prolong  the  pleasures  of  the  table  and  preven 
the  effects  of  over-uidulgence.      The  separate  d.ning-room 
(indmuun)  was  introduced,  the  great  houses  having  two  oi 
more  (§204),  and  the  oeci  (§207)  were  pressed  into  service 
for  banquet  halls.     The  dining  couch  (S224)  took  the  place 
of  the  bench  or  stool,  slaves  served  the  food  to  the  recliinng 
guests,  a  dinner  dress  (S24U)  was  devised,  and  every /^' '»'?'« 
\m:a  (iU9)  included  a  high-priced  chef  with  a  st.ift  of 
trained   assistants.     Of   course   there  were  a  way    weal  by 
men,  Atticus,  thefricmd^.^^ 
,  p,„i„s  r-'d  centurn^TTgi^^^'^hst  from  a  satirical  poem  ot 

Media,    ki.l    from   Anibracia,    young  tu.mj -fish   *["'"   ^ 

,,r.v.n  fn.m  Tartessus,  cod  CO  from  ^^-^T^' ^^    .    ",s  from 

11       f       .  rn.i/w  ('>\   ^t^lrlreon  (V)  from  Rhodes,  sanus  iium 

turn   scall()]>  from  Lnios  {.),  stui^t;vMi  v  •;  ,      .      ^.^  ,^)\   fvr^tn 

Cnicia.  nuis  from  Thasos,  dates   from    Egypt,  chestnuts  (.')   fiom 

Spain. 


II 


202 


THK    I-RIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


POOD    AND    HEALS 


203 


Clung  to  the  simpler  customs  of  the  earlier  days,  but  these 
couM  makeliule  headw..y  against  the  current' of  senseles! 
diss.pat.oo  and  extravagance.      Over  against  these  must  be 

pa  ron  ^'  ^Z'  T^^J^^''^^^-^^  «-  «-hpots  of  the  r:ch 
patron  (,SMM,  182)   to  the  bread  of  honest  independence 

meals  wero  tl.o  . " //^^^  ^'^"^"^^8  ot  the   very  rich.     These 

301        Hours  for  Meals.-Thrco   meals  a  day  was  the  regular 
number  with  the  Romans  as-with  us,  though  hygilLT: 
ound  then,  as  they  n.ay  be  found  nowadays, "^f ho  belilv  d 
tu-o  meals  n.ore  healthful  than  three,  and  then  as  now  hit 

Z\2T  T'''''''  '^  "^  ^-^^^-^  '"^'^^   ^=^^-   '=^^«  -t  nigh 
Custom  fixed  more  or  less  rigorously  the  hours  for  melds 

hough  these  varied  with  the  age,  and  to  a  less  extend'  h 
the   occupations   and   even   with  the  inclinations    of  ind 
viduals.     In  early  times  in  the  city  and  in  all  periods  in  the 
country  the  chief  meal  (.,.«)  ..^  eaten  in  the  Lidt 
•lay,   preceded   by    a    breakfast    iienlaeulu.O    in   the  ea  K 
.normng  and  followed  in  the  evening  bv  a  supper  (rZer^ 
n  classical  times  the  hours  for  meals  in  J^m!i  w.     1  Ta. 
they  are  now  ,n  our  large  cities:  that  is,  the  cenu  was  post 
po  0    until  the  work  of  the  day  was  finished,  thus  er  .^  . 
out^  he  ve.p.rna,  and  a  luncheon  (,.v..//.,,)  took  the  n    ct 
of  the  old-fashioned  "noon  dinner."     The  even  ngdi^n 
came  to  be  more  or  less  of  a  social  function,  gu  fts  be  n^ 
present  and  the  foo<l  and  service  the  best  thoh'teo    J 
,  atfonl,  while  the  ienf,.u,o.  and  ,.v..//,..,  ,,ere  i     comp 
i.soii  very  simple  and  informal  meals  ^ 

302  Breakfast  and  Luncheon.-The  breakfast  (ien/acuhnn  or 
'-'^-■"/-;)  was  eaten  inime<liately  after  ri  ing  tl  o.a 
varying   ot  course,  with  the  occupation  and  conl.^rof  ^ 

:::  d-;;:^  in  ;-;r:rs;::sr""^^^r-^=^''  ^^^^"  ^^^ 

^  "'    ^T'lnf^lcn    over    with    salt,    though 


raisins,  olives,  and  cheese  were  sometimes  added.    Workmen 
pressed  for  time  seem  to  have  taken  their  breakfast  in  their 
'hands  to  eat  as  they  went  to  the  place  of  their  hO^or   and 
schoolboys  often  stopped  on  their  way  to  school  (§U>)  at  a 
nublic  bakery  (§286)  to  buy  a  sort  of  shortcake  or  pancake, 
on  which  thev  made  a  hurried  breakfast.     More  rarelj-^  the 
breakfast   became   a   regular    meal,    eggs    being   serwd   m 
nddition  to  the  things  just  mentioned,  and  >nulsu>„  (i;..'.  ) 
;nd  milk  drunk  with  them.     It  is  likely  that  such  a  break- 
fast was  taken  at  a  later  hour  and  by  persons  who  dispensed 
^ith  the  noon  meal.     The  luncheon  U>r'Oulinn>)  came  aboiit 
tL    o'clock.     It,    too,    consisted   usually  of   cold   food: 
bread,  salads   (§2:0),  olives,  cheese,  fruits,  nuts,  and  cold 
Lats'  from  the  dinner  of  the  day  before.  J^^-^^^f^ 
however,    warm   meat   and  vegetables  were  added,  but  the 
meal  wa    never  an  elaborate  one.     It  is  sometimes  spoken  of 
as  a  morning  meal,  but  in  this  case  it  must  have  fo  lowed 
at  about  the  regular  interval  an  extremely  early  break  ast, 
0   fmust  itself  have  formed  the  breakfast,  taken  later  than 
usual     when    the    ientdcuhun    for    some    reason    had    been 
omi'ttU.     After    the  pnn.li.nn  came   ^^e   -i^^.^^y  ;-;  j;^ 
siesta  ^nendiafio),  when  all  work  was    aid  aside  until  the 
eighth  hour,  except  in  the  law  courts  and  m  the  senate.     In 
fe  summer',  at  least,  everybody  went  to  sleep,  and  even  .n 
the   capital    the   streets   were    almost    as    <leserted    as    .vt 
midnight.     The   resperna,  entirely  unknown   m   c.tv    lite 
sed'the  day  on  the  farm.     It  was  an  early  -M^pev  -  -h 
consisted  largely  of   the   leavings   ot   the   ->-u  ay^  dmn^ 
with  the  addition  of  such   uncooked  food  as  a  faim  woul 
naturally  supply.     The  word  mer.nda  seems  to  ^^\^^^ 
applied  in  early  times  to  this  evenn.g  meal   then  to   efu^i 
n.ents  taken  at  any  time  (cf.  the  English  "lunch    ),  and 
finnllv  to  have  gone  out  of  use  altogether. 

tL  F  rL' Meal.-Tl,e  W  lif»  of  *e  '^'"^-^^"^ 
crowdefl  tl,e  dinner  ont  of  il«  original  pla^.  m  the  noddle  of 


i    if 


ill 


H'l! 


■t 


)4 


20-1. 


TFIE    PRIVATE    LIFK    OF    THK    ROMANS 


spK.  (I  to  the  towns  and  was  carried  l.v  citv  people  to  tlieir 
country  estates  (,Uo),  so  that  ia  classical  \i,.L  the 
In  nor    re..)  .,,,   the  regular  thin,  for  all   persons  of  :^ 
jocal  standiu.  throughout  ti.e  length  and  hreadth  of  [talv 
It  was  even  uiore  of  a  function  thau   it  is  with  ns    because 

rhcy  had  no  receptions,  balls,  musieales,  or  theater  parties 
"^  other  opporhuuties  to  entertain  their  friends  or  be  eu,     ! 
tuned  by  then.      It  is  safe  to  say,  therefore,  that  when      e 
ioman  was  in  town  he  was  every  evening  host  or  guest  at  • 
nner  as  e  abon.e  as  his  n.eans  or  thos,^  of  his  f rL.,  ! 

m ted    „uloss,  of  course,  urgent  business  clain.ed  his  at!eu- 
iou    o.    .ome   uuusual   ••.rcunistances   had   wilhdrawn   hi.., 

Zr':t ^T^■"'■r'•^■•      ''■'   ^'-^---W  estates  thesa 
uistoni     i)re\aile.l,    the   guests    comiuir    from    nei-hbori... 
estates  or  .>eing  friends  who  stoppe.l   uuexpectedlv ^p       ^f 
to  claim    enterta  iiment   for  a   nio-l.f    ...    t^  •  '  F«'"<'PS, 

jui    a   nignt  as    ti.ev   tiassed    on   « 
journey  to  or  from   the  city  (§:i8,S).     These  di.  nerf  fo      .t 

cxtKuagant  banquets  of  the  ostentatious  rich.      Thev  we.-e 
■n    themselves    thoroughly   wholesome,    the    expres^on    o 
genuu.e  hospitality.      The  guests  were  frie.uls,    h        umbe 
H-s  lumted,  the  wife  and  children  of  the  host   vere  ,      " 
;uid  social  enjoyn.ent  was  the  end  in  view.      Uefore  tl^e  me-  I 

rit:^;;::-:;,^"--^ 

'°^/.•7  7^•^'f''^^"';!^•~'^^^''   P"^'*'<'°   «f   «^«    'lining-room 

(Na)4)    and  1     has  been  remarked   (g:30(.)  that  in   classical 
Urnes  the  stool  or  bench  had  given  place  to  the  couch      T  is  ' 
couch  (/../...    /.,>//./.>/.)    ,,„    eonstructed    n,„ch    as    t le 
eomnum /fv/?  wore  C^-)-)!'*    ..^  „  ^   ..    .    •, 

.tnd  hue.,  had  an  arm  nt  one  e.,,1  only,  was  without  a  b-i.-k 

Hiid  sloped  from  the  f,-onr  to  the  re-u-       \t  '        "\^  '*;"  ^^ 

Mi  lub  leai.     At  the  end  where 


l^oon    AND    MEALS 


2or 


ihe  nrni  was,  a  cuslnon  (h*  holster  was  placed,  and  ])aralU'l 
with  it  two  others  were  arranged  in  sueh  a  way  as  to  divide 
the  eoneh  into  three  i)arls.  Kacli  part  was  for  oiie  person, 
and   a   single   eoueh   wonUi,    therefore,    aceonimodate   three 


\ 


:{ 


L.  m. 
2 


rr 


I 

J. 


W^mTm 


n 


msim^ 


.>^ 


FrnrRK  n9.     T.ahlk  and  CorcHEs 


L .  mediu* 
FKiUKF,   \'H).      TaKLK   AM)  COICHES 


persons.  The  dining-room  received  its  name  {trlrlhn'fOH) 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  planned  to  hold  three  of  these 
couches  (KXtmt  in  (J reek),  set  on  three  sides  of  a  table,  the 
fourth  side  of  which  was  open.     The  arrangement  varied  a 

little  with  the  size  of  the 
room.  In  a  large  room  the 
couelies  were  set  as  in  Fig. 
1  lU,  but  if  economy  of  space 
was  necessary  they  were 
placed  as  in  Fig.  120,  the 
latter  being  probably  the 
more  common  arrangement 
of  the  two.  Nine  may  be 
taken,  therefore,  as  the  ordi- 
nary number  at  a  Roman 
dinner  party.  More  would 
be  invited  onlv  on  unusual 
occasions,  and  then  a  larger  room  would  be  used  where  two 
or  more  tables  could  be  arranged  in  the  same  way,  each 
accommodating   nine   guests.     In  the   case   of  members  of 


FiorRE  1-1. 
Woman  Sittinci  on  Dining  Couch 


206 


THK    I>RrVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FOOD    AND    MEALS 


207 


the  same  family,  es]>ecially  if  one  was  a  child,  or  when  the 
guests  were   very  intimate  friends,   a   fourth  person    might 
find  room  on  a  couch,  but  this  was  certainly  unusual;  proba- 
bly when   a   guest    unexpectedly   presented    himself    some 
member  of   the  family  would    surrender   his  place  to  him. 
Often   the  host  reserved  a  place  or  places  for  friends  that 
his   guests  might    bring  without   notice.      Such    uninvited 
})ersons  were   called    umbrae.     When   guests    were    present 
the  wife  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  couch   (Fig.  121)  instead  of 
reclining,  and  children  were  usually  accommodated  on  seats 
at  the  open  side  of  the  table. 
305        Places  of  Honor. — The  guest  approached  the  couch  from 
the  rear  and  took  his  place  upon  it,  lying  on  the  left  side, 
with  his  face  to  the  table,  and  supported  by  his  left  elbow, 
which  rested  on  the  cushion  or  bolster   mentioned    al)()ve. 
The  position  of  his  body  is  indicated  by  the  arrows  in  the 
cut  above  (Fig.  119).     Ench  couch  and  each  place  on  the 
couch    had    its   own    name  according   to  its   position   with 
reference  to  the  others.     The  couches  were  called  respect- 
ively lerfxs  xiontnux,  Jedus  medius,  and   Jerfiis  hnus,  and  it 
will   be  noticed  that  persons  reclining  on  the  Jectns  mediHS 
had  the  Jedus  su munis  im  the  left  and   the  ledus  hnus  on 
the  right.      Etiquette  assigned  the  ledus  summus  and  the 
lectus  medius  to  guests,  while  the  hdus  Imns  was  reserved 
for  the  host,  his  wife,  and  one  other  member  of  his  familv. 
If   the   host  alone   represented   the  family,   the   two   places 
beside  him  on  the  Jedus  Imus  were  given  to  the  humblest  of 
th^  guests. 

306  The  places  on  each  couch  were  named  in  the  same  way, 
(Jocus)  summus,  medius,  and  imus,  denoted  respectively  by 
the  figures  1,  2,  and  3  in  the  cut.  The  person  who  occupied 
the  place  numbered  1  was  said  to  be  above  (super,  snprd) 
the  person  to  his  right,  while  the  person  occupying  the 
middle  place  (?)  was  above  the  person  on  his  right  and 
below  (hifrd)  the  on-  on  the  left.     The  place  of  honor  on 


I 


) 


i 


the  Jecfus  suuuuus  was  that  numbered  7,  and  the  corre- 
sponding ])lace  on  the  Jecfus  hnus  was  taken  by  the  host. 
The  most  distinguished  guest,  however,  was  given  the  place 
on  the  Jedus  medius  marked  S,  and  this  place  was  called  by 
the  special  name  Jociis  consular  is,  because  if  a  consul  was 
present  it  Avas  always  assigned  to  him.  It  will  l)e  noticed 
that  it  was  next  the  2)lace  of  the  host,  and  besides  was 
especially  convenient  for  a  pul)lic  official;  if  he  found  it 
necessary  to  receive  or  send  a  message  during  the  dinner  he 
could  communicate  with  the  messenger  without  so  much  as 
turning  on  his  elbow. 

Other  Furniture. — In  comparison  with  the  Jedl  the  rest  307 
of  the  furniture  of  the  dining-room  played  an  insignitleant 


FlUUKK   1-2.      SlUKBOA  UD 


FiorKK  I2:i.    Sideboard 


part.  In  fact  the  only  other  absolutely  necessary  article 
was  the  table  (//leusa),  placed  as  shown  in  the  figures  above 
between  the  three  couches  in  such  a  way  that  all  were 
equally  distant  from  it  and  free  access  to  it  was  left  on  the 
fourth  side.  The  space  between  the  table  and  the  couches 
might  be  so  little  that  the  guests  could  help  themselves,  or 
on  the  other  hand  so  great  that  slaves  could  pass  between  to 
serve  the  food.  The  guests  had  no  individual  plates  to  be 
kept  upon  the  table,  so  that  it  was  used  merely  to  receive 
the  large  dishes  in  which  the  food  was  served,  and  certain 
formal  articles,  such  as  the  saltcellar  (§21i9)  and  the  things 


it 


I 


II 


208 


THK     PiJIVATK     \AVK    oT     IMIi:     IloMAXS 


FOOD    AND    MEALS 


209 


iioccssary  I'or  tliu  oiTeriui^'  to  I  lie  gods.     Tlio  tjil)lo,  theroforo, 
was   never  very  larijfe  (one   siicli    would    he   almost   lost^  in   a 
modern  dining-room j,  hut  it  was  often  exceedingly  heantiful 
and  costly  {^'I'l]).      Its  ]>eauties  were  not  hidden   eitliei*   by 
any  cloth   or  covering;  the   table-cloth,  as  we   know   it,  did 
not  come  into  use  until  about  the  end  of  the  llrst  century  of 
our   era.     The  cost   and   beauty  of    the    dishes,    too,    were 
limited  only  by  the  means  and  taste  of  the  owner.      Besides 
the  couches  and  the  table,  sideboards  {(than)  Avere  the  oidy 
articles  of  furniture  usually  fouml  in  the  frldhnHni.     These 
varied   from  a  simple  shelf  to   tables  of  ditferent  forms  and 
sizes  aiul  open  cabinets,  such  as  shown  in  Figs,  l'^-^  and  \'i:) 
and  in  Schreiber  LX\'II,    11.      They  were  set  out  of  the 
way  against  the  walls  and  served  as  do  ours  to  display  plate 
aiul  porcelain  when  not  in  use  on  the  table. 
308        Courses. — In  classical  times  even  the  simplest  diniuT  was 
divided  into  three  parts,  the ///^v//^v  ('Mppetizer'^),  the  rani 
("dinner  proper"),  and  the  secH/fda  /Hcjfsa  ^  ("dessert'') ;  the 
dinner  was  made  elaborate  by  serving  each  of  the  parts  in 
several  courses.     The  ^/^s7/^v  consisted  of  those  thinas  oidv 
that  were  believed  to  excite  the  appetite  or  aid  the  digestion: 
oysters  and  other  shell-fish  fresh,  sea-fish  salted  or  ])ickled, 
certain  vegetables  that  could  be  eaten  uncooked,  especially 
onions,    and    almost    invariably   lettuce    ami   eggs,    all   with 
piquant  sauces.      With  these  appetizers   nndsum  ($<^08)  was 
drunk,  wine  being  thought  too  heavy  for  an  empty  stomach, 
and  from  the  drink  the ///^v//^v  was  also  called  the  prow  ffhi.sj 
another  and   more   significant    name    for    it    was    anfer'^na. 
Then  followed  the  real   dinner,  the  cena,  consisting  of  the 
more  substantial   viands,    fish,   flesh,   fowl,  and   vegetables. 
With  this  pirt  of  the  meal  wine  was  drunk,  but  in  modera- 
tion, for  it   was  thought  to  didl  the  sense  of  taste,  and   the 
real  drinking  began  only  when  the  rtma  was  over.     The  re)i(( 

^  This  is  the  most  common  form,  but  the  plural  also  occurs,  and 
the  adjective  may  follow  the  noun. 


jilmost  always  consisted  of  several  courses  {mensa  prima^ 
altera^  tertia^  etc.),  three  being  thought  neither  niggardly 
nor  extravagant;  we  are  told  that  Augustus  often  dined  on 
three  courses  and  never  went  beyond  six.  The  secunda 
mensa  closed  the  meal  with  all  sorts  of  pastry,  sweets,  nuts, 
and  fruits,  fresh  and  preserved,  with  which  wine  was  freely 
drunk.  From  the  fact  that  eggs  were  eaten  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  meal  and  apples  at  the  close  came  the  proverbial 
expression,  ab  (tro  ad  mala. 

Bills  of  Fare. — We  have  preserved  to  us  in  literature  the  309 
bills  of  fare  of  a  few  meals,  probably  actually  served,  which 
may  be  taken  as  typical  at  least  of  the  homely,  the  generous, 
T  and  the  sumptuous  dinner.  The  simplest  is  given  by 
Juvenal  (f'^d  century  a.d.):  for  the  (judns^  asparagus  and 
eggs;  for  the  cena.,  yc>ung  kid  and  chicken;  for  the  secunda 
mensa^  fruits.  Two  others  are  given  by  Martial  (40-101 
A.D.)r  the  first  has  lettuce,  onions,  tunny-fish,  and  eggs 
cut  in  slices;  sausages  with  porridge,  fresh  cauliflower, 
bacon,  and  beans;  pears  and  chestnuts,  and  with  the  wine 
olives,  parched  peas,  and  lupines.  The  second  has  mallows, 
onions,  mint,  elecampane,  anchovies  with  sliced  eggs,  and 
sow's  udder  in  tunny  sauce;  the  cena  was  served  in  a  single 
course  {una  mensa) ^  kid,  chicken,  cold  ham,  haricot  beans, 
and  young  cabbage  sprouts;  fresh  fruits,  Avith  wine,  of 
course.  The  last  we  owe  to  Macrobius  (toth  century  a.d.), 
who  assigns  it  to  a  feast  of  the  pontifices  during  the 
Republic,  feasts  that  were  proverbial  for  their  splendor. 
T\\Q  anfecena  vfii^  served  in  two  courses:  first,  sea-urchins, 
raw  oysters,  three  kinds  of  sea-mussels,  thrush  on  asparagus, 
a  fat  hen,  panned  oysters,  and  mussels;  second,  mussels 
again,  shell-fish,  sea-nettles,  figpeckers,  loin  of  goat,  loin  of 
pork,  fricasseed  chicken,  figpeckers  again,  two  kinds  of 
sea-snails.  The  number  of  courses  in  which  the  cena  was 
served  is  not  given:  sow's  udder,  head  of  wild  boar,  panned 
fish,  panned  sow's  udder,  domestic  ducks,  wild  ducks,  hares, 


(1 


210 


THE    PRIVATK    LIFE    OP    THE    RO>fANS 


FOOD    ANT)    MEALS 


211 


roast  chicken,  starch  pudding,  bread.  No  vegetable^  or 
dessert  are  mentioned  by  Macrobius,  but  we  may  take  it  for 
granted  that  they  corresponded  to  tlie  rest  of  the  feast,  and 
the  wine  that  the  pontifices  drank  was  famed  as  the  best. 

310  Serving  the  Dinner.-  -The  dinner  hour  marked  the  close 
of  the  day^s  work,  as  has  been  said  (goOl),  and  varied,  there- 
fore, with  the  season  of  the  year  and  the  social  position  of 
the  family.  In  general  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  not 
before  the  ninth  and  rarely  after  the  tenth  hour  (;<418).  It 
lasted  usually  until  bedtime,  that  is,  for  three  or  four  hours 
at  least,  though  the  Romans  went  to  bed  early  because  they 
rose  early  (§sr9,  l-^'>).  Sometimes  even  the  ordinary  dinner 
lasted  until  midnight,  but  when  a  banquet  was  expected  to 
be  unusually  protracted,  it  was  the  custom  to  begin  earlier 
in  order  that  there  might  be  time  after  it  for  the  needed 
repose.  Such  ban([uets,  beginning  before  the  ninth  hour, 
were  called  tempe.st'tva  conrln'a,  the  word  ''early"  in  this 
connection  carrying  with  it  about  the  same  reproach  as  our 
''late"  suppers.  At  the  ordinary  family  dinners  the  time 
was  spent  in  conversation,  though  in  some  good  houses 
(notably  that  of  Atticus,  cf.  gl55)  a  trained  slave  read  aloud 
to  the  guests.  At  "gentlemen's  dinners"  other  forms  of 
entertainment  were  provided,  music,  dancing,  juggling, 
etc.,  by  ])r()fessional  performers  (^15;)). 

311  When  the  guests  had  been  ushered  into  the  dining-room 
the  gods  were  solemnly  invoked,  a  custom  to  which  our 
''grace  before  meat"  corresponds.  Then  they  took  their 
places  on  the  couches  {accumhere,  di.scumbere)  as  these  were 
assigned  them  (J5:300),  their  sandals  were  removed  (g-^oO),  to 
be  cared  for  by  their  own  attendants  (Slo'^),  and  water  and 
towels  were  carried  around  for  washing  the  hands.  The 
meal  then  began,  each  course  being  placed  upon  the  table  on 
a  waiter  or  tray  {ferculvm),  from  which  the  dishes  were 
passed  in  regular  order  to  the  guests.  As  each  course  was 
linished    the    dishes    were    replaced    on    the  ferculum    and 


removed,   and  water  and  towels   were  again   passed  to  the 
guests,  a  custom  all   the  more  necessary  because  the  lingers 
were  used  for  forks  (g'^i^^O-     l^etvveen  the  chief  parts  of  the 
meal,  too,  the  table  was  cleared  and  carefully  wiped  with  a 
cloth    or  soft   sponge.     Between   the  cena   proper   and  the 
secuiida   mensa  a  longer  pause  was  made   and   silence  was 
preserved  while  wine,   salt,  and  meal,  perhaps  also  regular 
articles  of  food,  were  offered  to  the  Lares.     The  dessert  was 
then  brought  on  in  the  same  way  as  the  other  parts  of  the 
meal.     The  signal  to  leave  the  couches  was  given  by  calling 
for  the  sandals   (S'-ioO),   and   the    guests  immediately  took 
their  departure. 

The  Comissatio. — Cicero  tells  us  of  Cato  and  his  Sabine  312 
neidil)ors  lingfcrinir  over  their  dessert  and  wine  until  late  at 
night,  and  makes  them  tind  the  chief  charm  of  the  long 
evening  in  the  conversation.  For  this  reason  Cato  declares 
the  Latin  word  couvlrmm^  "a  living  together,"'  a  better 
word  for  such  social  intercourse  than  the  one  the  Greeks 
used,  syinpoxifi))},  "a  drinking  together.''  The  younger  men 
in  the  gayer  circles  of  the  capital  inclined  rather  to  the 
Greek  view  and  followed  the  cena  proper  with  a  drinking 
bout,  or  wine  supper,  called  coinissdtin  or  cnnipntdtid.  This 
differed  from  the  form  that  Oato  approved  not  merely  in  the 
amount  of  wine  consumed,  in  the  lower  tone,  and  in  the 
questionable  amusements,  but  also  in  tlie  following  of  certain 
(ireek  customs  unknown  among  the  Ivoinans  until  after  the 
second  J^mic  war  and  never  adopted  in  the  regular  dinner 
parties  that  have  been  described.  These  were  the  use  of 
perfumes  and  flowers  at  the  feast,  the  selection  of  a  Master 
of  the  Revels,  and  the  method  of  drinking. 

The   perfumes   and   flowers  were  used  not   so   much  en  313 
account  of  the  sweetness  of  their  scent,  much  as  the  Romans 
enjoyed   it,   as  because   they   believed  that   the    scent   pre- 
vented or  at  least  retarded  intoxication.     This  is  sliown  by 
the  fact  that  they  did  not  use  the  unguents  and  the  flowers 


if 


212 


THE    PRTVATP^    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FOOD    AND    MEALS 


213 


throughout  the  whole  meal,  but  waited  to  anoint  the  head 
with  perfumes  and  crown  it  with  tlowers  until  the  dessert  and 
the  wine  were  brought  on.  \  arious  leaves  and  flowers  were 
used  for  the  garlands  {coronae  convivdUs)  according  to  indi- 
vidual tastes,  but  the  rose  w^as  the  most  popular  and  came  to 
be  crenerallv  associated  Avith  the  ro)nissd/id.  After  tlie 
guests  had  assumed  their  crowMis  (and  sometimes  garlands 


FiouHK  l-!4.    End  of  Drinkincj  Bout 


were  also  worn  around  the  neck),  each  threw  the  dice, 
usually  calling  as  he  did  so  upon  his  sweetheart  or  some 
deity  to  help  his  throw.  The  one  whose  throw^  was  the 
highest  (g')'^O)  was  forthwith  declared  the  rex  {m(f(/i\sfer, 
arhiter)  bibeiid'i.  Just  wdiat  his  duties  and  privileges  were 
we  are  no^vhere  expressly  told,  but  it  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that  it  was  his  province  to  determine  the  proportion  of  water 
to  be  added  to  the  wine  (§298),  to  lay  down  the  rules  for  the 


I 


drinking  (lhjl>^  Insanac,  Horace  calls  them),  to  decide  what 
each  guest  should  do  for  the  entertainment  of  his  fellows, 
and  to  impose  penalties  and  forfeits  for  the  breaking  of  the 

rules. 

The  wine  was  mixed  under  the  direction  of  the  mar/lsfer  31^ 

in  a  large  bowl   {c niter),  the  proportions  of  the  wine  and 

w^ater  being  apparently  constant  for  the 

evening,  and  from  the  crater  (Fig.  125), 

placed  on    the  table  in  view^  of  all,   the 

wine  was  ladled  by  the  servants  into  the 

goblets  {pOi^uIa,  Fig.  Ui>)  of  the  guests. 

The  ladle  {ajathus.  Fig.  1'27)  held  about 

one-twelfth  of  a  pint,  or  more  probably 

was  graduated  by  twelfths.     The  method 

of  drinking  seems  to  have  dilTered   from 

that    of    the   regular    dinner    chiefly    in 

this:     at  the  ordinary  dinner  each  guest 

mixed   his    wine   to    suit  his    owai    taste 

and  drank  as  little  or  as  much  as  he  pleased,  while  at  the 

comissatid  all  had  to  drink  alike,  regardless  of  differences  in 


Mixing  Bowl 


Figure  126.    Drinking  Cups 

taste  and  capacity.  The  wine  seems  to  have  been  drunk 
chiefly  in  "healths,"  but  an  odd  custom  regulated  the  size 
of  the  bumpers.     Any  guest  might  propose  the  health  of 


■  JT^  TiimiiK 


214 


thp:  private  life  of  the  Romans 


# 


315 


^ 


FnH'RK  127. 
Cyathus 


any  person  he  pleased  to  name;  immediately  slaves  ladled 
into  each  goblet  as  many  ci/athl  (twelfths  of  a  pint)  as  there 
were  letters  in  the  given  name,  and  the  goblets 
(\\  had  to  be  drained  at  a  draft.  The  rest  of  the 
entertainment  was  undoul)tedly  wild  enough 
(§310) ;  gambling  seems  to  have  been  common, 
and  Cicero  speaks  of  more  disgraceful  practices 
in  his  speeches  against  Catiline.  Sometimes  the 
guests  spent  the  evening  roaming  from  house 
to  house,  playing  host  in  tarn,  and  making  night 
hideous  as  tliey  staggered  through  the  streets 
with  their  crowns  and  garlands. 

The  Banquets  of  the  Rich.— Little  need  be 
said  of  the  banquets  of  the  wealtliy  nobles  in  the 
last  century  of  the  Eepublic  and  of  the  rich 
parvenus  (§181)  who  thronged  the  courts  of 
the  earlier  Emperors.  They  were  arranged  on  the  same 
plan  as  the  diiniers  we  have  described,  differing  from  them 
only  in  the  ostentatious  display  of  furniture,  plate,  and 
food.  So  far  as  particulars  have  reached  us,  they  were 
grotesriue  and  revolting,  judged  l)y  the  canons  of  to-day, 
rather  than  magnificent.  Couches  made  of  silver,  wine 
instead  of  water  for  tlie  hands,  twenty-two  courses  to  a  single 
re/ia,  seven  thousand  birds  served  at  another,  a  dish  of  livers 
of  fish,  tongues  of  tlamingos,  brains  of  peacocks  and 
pheasants  mixed  up  together,  strike  us  as  vulgarity  run 
mad.  The  sums  spent  upon  these  feasts  do  not  seem  so 
fabulous  now  as  they  did  then.  Every  season  in  our  great 
capitals  sees  social  functions  that  surpass  the  feasts  of 
Lucullus  in  cost  as  far  as  they  do  in  taste  and  refinement. 
As  signs  of  the  times,  however,  as  indications  of  changed 
ideals,  of  degeneracy  and  decay,  they  deserved  the  notice 
that  the  Roman  historians  and  satirists  gave  them. 


CHAPTER   IX 
AMUSEMENTS 

RErEBENOEs:  Marquardt,  269-296,  834-861;  StaatsverwaUung,  III,  504-5a^; 
G6U  III,  4n5-48t),  104-157;  Guhl  and  Koner,  643-658,  804-829,  609-618;  Friedliinder,  II, 
•>95-637;  Ramsay,  394-409;  Pauly-Wissowa,  amphit  heat  rum,  calx,  circus,  Bdder: 
Smith'  Harper,  Rich,  amphitheatrum,  balneae,  circus,  gladiatores,  theatrum,  and 
other  Latin  words  in  text;  Baumeister,  694,  241-244,  2089-2111;  Liibker,  1073  f., 
1199  f.,  477  f.,  1048  f.,  185,  1213;  KelseyMau,  135  161,  180-220. 


After  the  games  of 
childhood  (§§102,  lO:]) 

were  passed    the    Ro- 
man  seemed    to   lose 
all    instinct  for  play. 
Of    sport    for    sport's 
sake  he  knew  nothing, 
he    took    part    in   no 
games  for  the  sake  of 
excelling  in  them.    lie 
played  ball  before  his 
dinner  for  the  good  of 
the  exercise,  he  prac- 
ticed  riding,  fencing, 
wrestling,  hurling  the 
discus  (Fig.  128),  and 
swimming      for       the 
strength  and  skill  they 
gave  him  in  arms,  he 
played  a  few  games  of 
chance  for  the  excite- 
ment  the    stakes   af- 
forded, but  there  was  no  ''national  game''  for  the  young  men, 
and   there  were  no  social  amusements  in   which   men  and 

?15 


316 


FiouRK  12H.    Discus  Thrower 


216 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


I 


AMUSEMENTS 


217 


women  took  part  together,  llie  Roman  made  it  hard  and 
expensive,  too,  for  others  to  amuse  him.  He  cared  nothing 
for  the  drama,  little  for  spectacular  shows,  more  for  farces  and 
variety  performances,  perhaps,  but  the  one  thing  that  really 
appealed  to  him  was  excitement,  and  this  he  found  in 
gambling  or  in  such  amusements  only  as  involved  the  risk  of 
injury  to  life  and  limb,  the  sports  of  the  circus  and  the 
amphitheater.  We  may  describe  first  the  games  in  which 
the  Koman  participated  himself  and  then  those  at  which  he 
was  a  mere  spectator.  In  the  first  class  are  field  sports  and 
games  of  hazard,  in  the  second  the  public  and  private  games 
{hidi  puhlitn  ef  prlvdt'i). 

317       Sports  of  the  Campus.— The  Campus  Martins  included  all 
the  level  ground  lying  between  the  Tiber  and  the  Capitoline 
and  Quirinal  hills.     The  northwestern  portion  of  this  plain, 
bounded   on   two   sides   by  the   Tiber,  which    here  sweeps 
abruptly   to    the    west,    kept    clear   of    public    and    private 
buildings   and   often    called    simply    the    Campiis,    was    for 
centuries  the  playground  of  IJome.     Here  the   young  men 
gathered  to  practice  the  athletic  games  mentioned  above, 
naturally   in    the   cooler   parts  of    the  day.      Even  men  of 
graver  years  did  not  disdain  a  visit  to  the  Campus  after  the 
inerldUltw  (sJ''><>-2),  in  preparation  for  the  bath  before  dinner, 
instead  of  which  the  younger  men  preferred   to  take  a  cool 
plunge  in  the  convenient  river.     The  sports  themselves  were 
those  that  we  are  accustomed  to  group  together  as  track  and 
field  athletics.     They   ran  foot   races,   jumped,    threw   the 
discus  (Fig.  Vl%),  practiced  archery,  and  had  wrestling  and 
boxing  matches.     These  sports  were  carried  on  then  much 
as  they  are  now,  if  we  may  judge  by  VergiFs  description  in 
the  Fifth  Aeneid,  but  an  exception  nuist  be  made  of  the 
games  of  ball.     These  seem  to  have  been  very  dull  and  stupid 
as  compared  with  ours.     It   must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  they  were  played  more  for  the  healthful  exercise  they 
furnished  than  for  the  joy  of  the  playing,   and  by  men  of 


V 


I 


FKiTRE  rJl>.       FOLLES 


high  position,  too— Caesar,  Maecenas,  and  even  the  Emperor 

Augustus. 

Games  of  Ball.  —Balls  of  different  sizes  are  known  to  have  318 

])een  used  in  the  dilferent  games,  variously  filled  with  hair, 

feathers,  and    air  [folUi^,  Eig.  129). 

I'hrowing   and  catching   formed  the 

l)asis  of  all  the  games,  the  bat  being 

practically  unknown.     In  the  simplest 

game  the  player  threw  the  ball  as  high 

as  he   could,  and    tried   to    catch    it 

before  it  struck  the  ground.     Varia- 
tions of    this  were    what    we    should 

call  ji^ggling,  the  player  keeping  two 

or  more  balls  in   the  air  (Fig.  130), 

and  throwing  and  catching  by  turns 

with  another  player.     Another  game  must  have  resembled 

our  handball,  requiring  a  wall  and  smooth  ground  at  its  foot. 

The  ball  was  struck  with  the  open  hand  against  the  wall, 

allowed  to  fall  back  upon  the  ground  and  bound,  and  then 

struck  back  against   the 
wall  in  the  same  manner. 
The  aim   of    the    player 
was    to   keep     the    ball 
going  in  this  way  longer 
than  his  opponent  could. 
Private  houses    and    the 
public   baths   often   had 
''courts"  especially  pre- 
pared   for    this    amuse- 
ment.   A  third  game  was 
called    trujon,    and    was 
played  by  three  persons 
stationed    at    the    angles  of   an  equilateral   triangle.      Two 
balls   were   used   and  the   aim  of  the  player  was  to  throw 
the  ball  in  his  possession  at  the  one  of  his  opponents  who 


FiGruK  i;iO.    Game  of  Ball 


218 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


219 


would  be  the  less  likely  to  catch  it.     As  two  might  throw  at 
the  third  at  the  same  moment,  or  as  the  thrower  of  one  ball 
might  have  to  receive  the  second  ball  at  the  very  moment  of 
throwing,  both  hands  had  to  be  used  and  a  good  degree  of 
skill  was  necessary.    Other  games,  all  of  throwing  and  catch- 
ing, are  mentioned  here  and  there,   but  none  is  described 
with  sufficient  detail  to  be  clearly  understood. 
319        Games  of  Chance.— 'rhe  IJomans  were  passionately  fond 
of  games  of  chance,  and  gambling  was  so  universally  associ- 
ated with  such  games  that  they  were  forbidden  by  law,  even 
when  no  stakes  were  actually  played  for.     A  general  indul- 
gence  seems   to  have  been   granted  at   the    Saturnalia   in 
December,  and  public  opinion  allowed  old  men  to  play  at 
any  time.     The  laws  were  hard  to  enforce,  however,  as  such 
laws  usually  are,  and  large    sums  were  won  and  lost    not 
merely   at  general   gambling   resorts,    but   also   at   private 
houses.     Games  of  chance,  in  fact,  with  high  stakes,  were 
one  of  the  greatest  attractions  at  the  men's  dinners  that 
have   been    nientioned    (§314).     The    commonest    form    of 
gambling  was  our  "heads  or  tails,''  coins  being  used  as  with 
us,  the  value  depending  on  the  means  of  the  players.   Another 
common  form  was  our  "odd  or  even,"  each  player  guessing 
HI  turn  and  in  turn  holding  counters  concealed  in  his  out- 
stretched hand  for  his  opponent  to  guess.     The  stake  was 
usually  the  contents  of  the  hand  though  side  bets  were  not 
unusual.     In  a  variation  of  this  game  the  players  tried  to 
guess  the  actual  inimber  of  the  counters  held  in  the  hand. 
Of  more  interest,  however,  were  the  games  of  knuckle-bones 
and  dice. 

320  Knuckle-bones.— Kiuu'kle-bones  (td/l)  of  sheep  and 
goats,  and  imitations  of  them  in  ivory,  broiize,  and  stone, 
were  used  as  playthings  by  children  and  for  gaming  by  men. 
Children  played  our  ''jackstones^'  with  them,  throwing  live 
into  the  air  at  once  and  catching  as  nnmy  as  possible  on  the 
back  of  the  hand   (Fig.  I'M).     The  length  of  the /^/77  was 


L 


greater  than  their  width  and  they  had,  therefore,  four  long 

sides  and  two  ends.     The  ends  were  rounded  otf  or  pointed, 

so  that  the  /(HI  could 

not  stand   on  them. 

Of  the  four  long  sides 

two  were  broader  than 

the  others.      Of   the 

two     broader     sides 

one  was  concave,  the 

other  convex;    while 

of  the  narrower  sides 

one  was  flat  and  the 

other  indented.  As 
all  the  sides  were  of 
dilTerent  shapes  the 
tall  did  not  require 
marking  as  do  our 
dice,  but  for  con- 
venience   they    were 

sometimes  marked  with  the  numbers  1,  :],  4,  and  6,  the  num- 
bers  2  and  5  being  omitted.  Four  tall  were  used  at  a 
time  either  thrown  into  the  air  with  the  hand  or  thrown 
from' a  dice-box  ( /V/7////^s),  and  the  side  on  which  the  bone 
rested  was  counted,  not  that  which  came  up.  Thirty-five 
different  throws  were  possible,  of  which  each  had  a  different 
name.  Four  aces  were  the  lowest  throw,  called  the  \  ulture, 
while  the  highest,  called  the  Venus,  was  when  all  the  tah 
came  up  differently.     It  was  this  throw  that  designated  the 

iii(((/isfer  bihoidl  (^''^^^'^^)'  .    _    ,., 

Dice.— The  Komans  had  also  dice  {tesserar)  precisely  like  321 

our  own.     They  were  made  of  ivory,  stone,  or  some  close- 

.Trained  wood,  and  had  the  sides  numbered  from  one  to  six. 

Three  were  used  at  a  time,  thrown   from  the  fritdlus,  as 

were  the  knuckle-bones   (Fig.  1:52),  but  the  sides  counted 

that   came   up.     The   highest   throw  was   three  sixes,  the 


FlOURK  131. 
GIKI.S  Playino  with  Knuckle-bonks 


i" 


220 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


221 


FioL-Ri:  132.    Playing  Dick 


lowest  three  aces.    lu  ordinary  gaming  the  aim  of  the  player 
seems  to  have  been  to  throw  a  higher  number  than  his 

opponent,  but  there  Avere  also 
games  played  with  dice  on  boards 
Avith  counters,  that   must  liave 
been  something  like  our  back- 
gammon,   uniting     skill     with 
chance.     Little  more  of  these  is  ' 
known  than  their  names,  but  a 
board  used  for  some  such  game 
is  shown    in    §330    (Fig.   144). 
If  one  considers  how  much  space 
is  given  in   our  newspapers   to 
the  game  of  baseball,  and  how  impossible  it  would  be  for  a 
person  who  had  never  seen  a  game  to  get  a  correct  idea  of 
one  from  the  newspaper  descriptions  only,  it  will  not  seem 
strange  that  we  know  so  little  of  Roman  games. 
322        Public  and  Private  Games.— AVith  the  historical  develop- 
ment of  the  Public  Games  this  book  has  no  concern  (§2).    It 
is  sufficient  to  say  that  these  free  exhibitions,  given  first  iu 
honor  of  some  god  or  gods  at  the  cost  of  the  state  and 
extended   and    multiplied    for   political    purposes    until    all 
religious  significance  was  lost,  had  come  by  the  end  of  the 
Republic  to  be  the  chief  pleasure  in  life  for  the  lower  classes 
in  Rome,  so  that  Juvenal  declares  that  the  free  bread  (S2H(>) 
and  the  games  of  the  circus  were  the  people's  sole  desire. 
Not  only  were  these  games  free,  but  when  they  were  given 
all  public  business  was  stopped  and  all  citizens  were  forced 
to  take  a  holiday.     These  holidays  became  rapidly  more  and 
more  numerous;  by  the  end  of  the  Republic  sixty-six  days 
were  taken  up  by  the  games,  and  in  tlie  reign  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  (1(51-180)  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
days  out  of  the  year  were  thus  closed  to  business.'     Resides 

'There  are  sixty  holidays  annually  in  Indiana,  for  example, 
and  this  is  about  the  average  for  the  United  States. 


■> 


^ 


these  standing  games,  others  were  often  given  for  extraordi- 
nary events,  and  funeral  games  were  common  when  great 
men  died.  These  last  were  not  made  legal  holidays.  For 
our  purposes  the  distinction  between  public  ami  private 
games  is  not  important,  and  all  may  be  classified  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  exhibitions  as,  hldl  scmm,  dramatic 
entertainments  given  in  a  theater,  hUl  eirre>»^e'<,  chariot 
races  and  other  exhibitions  given  in  a  circus,  and  m,uin-a 
gladidtdria,  shows  of  gladiators  usually  given  m  an  ampln- 

^""^Drlmatic  Performances.-The  history  of  the  development  323 
of  the  drama  at  Rome  belongs,  of  course,  to  the  history  ot 
Latin  literature.     In  classical  times  dramatic  performances 
consisted  of  comedies  {roimedmc),    tragedies   {tn,goe<hae), 
farces   (»/Iw7),  and  pantomimes  {pa»fo,>,hnl).     The  farces 
and  pantomimes  were  used  chiefiy  as  interludes  and  after- 
pieces, though  with  the  common  people  they  were  the  most 
popular  of  all  and  outlived  the  others.     Tragedy  never  had 
any  real  hold  at  Rome,  and  only  the  liveliest  comedies  gained 
favor  on  the  stage.     Of  the  comedies  the  only  ones  that  haxe 
come   down   to   us   are  those  of  Plautus  and  Terence    all 
adaptations  from  Greek  originals,  all  depicting  (i reek  Me, 
and   represented    in    Greek    costumes    {fabnlae    pallwfae). 
They  were  a  good  deal  more  like  our  comic  operas  than  our 
comedies,  large  parts  being  recited  to  the  accompaniment  of  . 
music  and  other  parts  sung  Avhile  the  actor  danced.      Ihey 
were  always  presented  in   the  daytime,  as   Roman  theaters 
were  provided  with  no  means  of  lighting,  in  the  early  period 
after  the  noon  meal  (§301),  hut  by  Cicero's  time  they  had 
come  to  be  given  in  the  morning.     The  average  comedy 
must  have  required  about  two  hours  for  the  acting,  with 
allowan(;e  for  the  occasional  music  between  the  scenes.     W  e 
read  of  a  plav  being  acted  twice  in  a  day,  but  this  must  have 
been  very  exceptional,  as  time  had  to  be  allowed  for  the 
other  more  popular  shows  given  on  the  same  occasion. 


i 


222 


■*^-  tjtai 


THE    PRIVATE    I.IFR    OF   TFIE    KOMAXS 


324  Staging  the  Play.— 'I'lio  play,  as  well  as  iho  other  sports, 
was  under  tlie  supervision  of  the  odicials  in  charge  of  the 
games  at  which  it  was  given.  They  contracted  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  ])lay  with  some  recognized  manager  {domiiius 
griyis),  wlio  was  usually  an  actor  of  acknowledged  ability 
and  had  associated  with  him  a  troupe  (f/rcr)  of  others  only 
inferior  to  himself.  Tiie  actors  were  all  slaves  (gU:!),  and 
men  took  the  parts  of  women.  Tliere  was  no  limit  fixed  to 
the  uumber  of  actors,  but  motives  of  economy  would  lead  the 
domlnus  to  produce  each  play  with  the  smallest  mimbcr 
possible,  and  two  or  even  more  parts  were  often  assigned   to 


PIAVIPHO    Sfhat.V        NAVJSlSlB^\f.\ 


CnB>JMff     SfKl.V 


t-r^ 


Kmi'KK  i:W.     tkjKNK  frcim  a  Comkdy 

one  actor.  'I'he  characters  in  the  comedies  wore  the  ordi- 
nary (ireek  dress  of  daily  life  and  tiie  costumes  (Fig.  j:}:}) 
were,  therefore,  not  expensive.  The  only  make-up  required 
was  paint  for  the  face,  especially  for  the  actors  who  took 
women's  parts,  and  the  wigs  that  were  used  conventionally 
to  represent  different  characters,  gray  for  old  men,  black  for 
young  men,  red  for  slaves,  etc.  These  and  the  few  ])roperties 
{onKliiiciihi)  necessary  wore  furnished  by  the  doiiiiiius.  It 
seems  to  have  been  customary  also  for  him  to  feast  the 
actors  at  his  expense  if  their  efforts  to  entertain  were  unusu- 
ally successful. 


\ 


AMUSKMEXTS 


223 


The  Early  Theater.— The  theater  itself  deserved  no  such  325 
name  until  very  late  in  the  llepublic.     During  the  period 
when   the   best  plays   were  being   written    C^OO-KiO   B.C.) 
almost  nothing  was   done   for   the   accommodation    of   the 
actors  or  the  audience.     The  stage  was  merely  a  temporary 
platform,  rather  wide  than  deep,  built  at  the  foot  of  a  hill 
or  a  grass-covered  slope.     There  were  almost  none  of  the 
tilings  that  we  are  accustomed  to  associate  with  a  stage,  no 
curtains,  no  flies,  no  scenery  that  could  be  changed,  not  even 
a  sounding-board  to  aid  the  actor's  voice.    There  was  no  way 
either  to  represent  the  interior  of  a  house,  and  the  dramatist 
was  limited,    therefore,    to   such   situations    as    might   be 
supposed  to  take  place  upon  a  public  street.     This  street 
the  stage  represented;  at  the  back   of  it  were  shown  the 
fronts  of  two  or  three  houses  with  windows  and  doors  that 
could  be  opened,  and  sometimes  there  was  an  alley  or  passage- 
way between  two   of  the  houses.     An  altar  stood  on  the 
stage,  we  are  told,  to  remind  the  people  of  the  religious 
origin  of  the  games.     No  better  provision  was  made  for  the 
audience  than  for  the  actors.     The  people  took  their  places 
on  the  slope  before  the  stage,  some  reclining  on  the  grass, 
some  standing,   some  perhaps  sitting   on   stools    they  had 
brought  from  home.     There  was  always  din  and  confusion 
to  try  the  actor's  voice,  pushing  and  crowding,  disputing 
and  quarreling,  wailing  of  children,  and  in  the  very  midst 
of  the  play  the   report  of   sometliing   livelier   to   be   seen 
elsewhere  might  draw  the  whole  au.lience  away. 

The  Later  Theater.-Beginning  about  U5  u.c,  however,  326 
efforts  were  made  to  improve  upon  tliis  poor  apology  for  a 
theater,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  those  who  considered 
the  plays  ruinous  to  morals.  In  that  year  a  wooden  theater 
on  Greek  lines  provided  with  seats  was  erected,  but  the 
senate  caused  it  to  be  pulled  down  as  soon  as  the  games 
were  over.  It  became  a  fixed  custom,  liowever,  for  such  a 
temporary  theater  with  special  and  separate  seats  for  sena- 


M 


224 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OK    THE    ROMANS 


l!ilii^ 


ll.i  ',  n 


FiorRK  184.    KxTERioR  OF  Theatkr  at  Orange 


tors,  and  much  later  for  the  knights,  to  be  erected  as  often  as 
plays  were  given  at  public  games,  until  in  55  b.c.  Pompeius 

Magnus  erect- 
ed the  first 
permanent 
t  h  e  a  t  e  r  at 
Rome.  It  was 
built  of  stone 
after  the  plans 
of  one  he  had 
seen  at  Myti- 
leneandseated 
at  least  seven- 
teen thousand 
people;    Pliny 

says  forty  thousand.  This  theater  showed  two  noteworthy 
divergences  from  its 
Greek  model.  The 
Greek  theaters  were  ex- 
cavated out  of  the  side 
of  the  hill,  while  the 
Roman  theater  was 
erected  on  level  ground 
(that  of  Pompeius  in  the 
Campus  Martins)  and 
gave,  therefore*,  a  better 
opportunity  for  exte- 
rior mngnificence.  The 
Greek  theater  had  a 
large  circular  space 
for  choral  perform- 
ances immediately  be- 
fore the   stasfe;    in    the  ^         .o-    r^ 

&     '  Fi«rRE  13o.    Theater  at  Po>fPEii 

Roman   theater   this 

space,  called  the  orchestra  then  as  now,  was  much  smaller, 


AMTSEMENTS 


225 


and   Avas      assigned    to   tbe 
senators.     The     first   four- 
teen   rows    of   seats    rising 
immediately    behind    them 
were     reserved    for    the 
knights.      The   seats    back 
of     these    were     occupied 
indiscriminately      by     the 
people,    on     the    principle 
apparently    of    first    come 
first  served.    No  other  per- 
manent theaters  were  erect- 
ed at  Rome    until  13  B.C., 
when  two  were  constructed. 
The  smaller  had  room  for 
eleven  thousand  spectators, 
the  larger,  erected  in  honor 
of    Marcellus,    the  nephew 
of    Augustus,     for    twenty 
thousand.     These  improved 
playhouses    made     possible 
spectacular  elements  in  the 
performances  that  the  rude 
scaffolding    of     early    days 
had  not  permitted,  and  these 
spectacles  proved  the  ruin 
of    the   legitimate     drama. 
To  make  realistic  the  scenes 
representing  the  pillaging  of 
a  city,  Pompeius  is  said  to 
have    furnished    troops    of 
cavalry   and  bodies   of   in- 
fantry, hundreds  of   mules 
laden  with  real  spoils  of  war, 
and  three  thousand  mixing 


226 


TH?:  private:  tjfk  of  the  Romans 


AMUSEMENTS 


227 


bowls  (§314).  In  ('oniparison  with  these  three  thousand  mix- 
ing howls,  the  avalanches,  runaway  locomotives,  sawmills 
in  full  operation,  and  cathedral  scenes  of  modern  times  seem 
poor  indeed. 
327  The  general  appearance  of  these  theaters,  the  type  of 
hundreds  erected  later  throughout  the  Roman  world,  may 
be  gathered  from  Fig.  137,  the  plan  of  a  theater  on  lines 
laid  down  by  Yitruvius  (;$1«^T).  GH  is  the  front  line  of  the 
stage  {prosraoiiji))))  '^  all  behind  it  is  the  scaena^  devoted 
to  the  actors,   all    before  it    is   the  raven ^  devoted   to     the 

spectators.  IKL  in  the 
rear  mark  the  position 
of  three  doors,  for  ex- 
ample,    those    of    the 
three  houses  mentioned 
above  (g3t>r)).  The  semi- 
circular orchestra  CMD 
is  the  part  appropriated 
to    the   senators.     The 
seats  behind  the  orches- 
tra, rising  in   concen- 
tric semicircles,  are  di- 
vided by  five  passageways  into  six  portions  (r?n?e7),  and  in  a 
similar  way   the  seats  above  the  semicircular  passage  {prae- 
clucllo)  show^i   in  the  figure  are  divided  by  eleven  passage- 
wavs  into  twelve  cunn.     Access  to  the  seats  of  the  senators 
was  afforded  by  passageways  under  the  higher  seats  at  the 
right  and  the  left  of  the  stage,  one  of  which  may  be  seen  in 
Fig.  135,  w^hich  represents  a  part  of  the  smaller  of  the  two 
theaters  uncovered  at  Pompeii,  built  not  far  from  80  B.C. 
Over  the  vaulted  passage  will  be  noticed  what   must  have 
been  the  best  seats  in  the  theater,  corresponding   in  some 
degree  to  the  boxes  of  modern  times.     These  were  reserved 
for  the  emperor,   if  he  w^as  present,    for   the   oflicials  who 
superintended  the  games  and   (on  the   other  side)  for  the 


\ 


FiGURK  137.     Plan  ov  Theater 


i 


l\ 


Vestals.  Access  to  the  higher  seats  was  conveniently  given 
by  broad  stairways  constructed  uiuhn-  the  seats  and  running 
up  to  the  passageways  between  the  rnucl.  These  are  shown 
in  Fig.  130,  a  theoretical  restoration  of  the  Marcellus  theater 
mentioned  above.  I^ehind  the  highest  seats  Avere  broad 
colonnades,  affording  shelter  in  case  of  rain,  and  above  them 
were  tall  masts  from  which  awnings 
{vela)  were  spread  to  protect  the 
people  from  the  sun.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  stage  end  may  be  gath- 
ered from  Fig.  134,  showing  the 
remains  of  a  Roman  theater  still 
existing  at  Orange,^  in  the  south  of 
France.  It  should  be  noticed  that 
the  stage  was  connected  with  the 
auditorium  by  the  seats  over  the 
vaulted  passages  to  the  orchestra, 
and  that  the  curtain  was  raised  from 
the  bottom,  to  hide  the  stage,  not 
lowered  from  the  top  as  ours  is  now. 
A'itruvius  suggested  that  rooms  and 
porticos  be  built  behind  the  stage, 
like  the  colonnades  that  have  been 
mentioned,  to  afford  space  for  the 
actors  and  properties  and  shelter  for 
the  people  in  case  of  rain. 

Roman     Circuses. — The     games 
of   the   circus    were    the    oldest   of 
the  free  exhibitions'  at  Eome   aiul  always  the    most    popu- 
lar.    The  word  circus   means    simply  a    ring  and   the  lfu/1 


FrurRK  i:i8. 
VicToiaors  AriiKiA 


328 


^  This  theater  has  been  restored  and  used  for  reproductions  of 
the  Classical  Drama.  See  the  interesting  account  of  it  in  the 
''Century  Magazine^'  for  June,  1895.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been 
erected  in  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius  (KU-IHO)  and  allowed  to 
fall  into  ruins  in  the  fourth  century  a.d. 


228 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    Kr)MANS 


circensG.s  were  therefore  any  shows  thai  might,  be  given  in  a 
ring.  We  shall  see  below  (S-U.*))  that  these  show^s  were  of 
several  kinds,  l)ut  theone  most  cliaracteristic,  the  one  that  is 
ahvays  meant  when  no  other  is  specifically  named,  is  that  of 
chariot  races.  For  these  races  the  first  and  really  the  only 
necessary  condition  is  a  large  and  level  piece  of  ground.  This 
was  furnished  by  the  valley  between  the  Aventine  and 
Palatine  hills,  and  here  in  prehistoric  times  the  first  Eoman 
race  course  was  established.  This  remained  tlte  circus,  the 
one  always  meant  when  no  descriptive  term  was  added, 
though  when  others  were  built  it  was  called  sometimes  by 
way  of  distinction  the  Circus  Maximus.  Xone  of  the  others 
ever  approached   it   in  size,  in   magnificence,  or  in  popu- 

laritv. 
329  The  second  circus  to  T)e  built  at  Rome  was  the  circus 
Fldinuiiu^!,  founded  in  221  B.C.  bv  the  same  Cains  Flanunius, 
who  built  tlie  Flaminian  road.  It  was  located  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  Campus  Martins  (^olT),  and  like  the 
Circus  ^laximus  was  exposed  to  the  frequent  overllows  of  the 
Tiber.  Its  position  is  fixed  beyond  question,  but  the  actual 
remains  are  verv  scantv,  so  that  little  is  known  of  its  size  or 
appearance.  The  third  to  be  established  was  that  of  Cains 
(Caligula)  and  Nero,  named  from  the  two  emperors  who 
had  to  do  with  its  construction,  and  erected,  therefore,  in 
the  first  centurv  a.d.  It  lav  at  the  foot  of  the  Vatican  hill, 
but  we  know^  little  more  of  it  than  that  it  was  the  smallest  of 
the  three.  These  three  were  the  only  circuses  within  the  city. 
In  the  immediate  neighborhood,  however,  were  three  others. 
Five  miles  out  on  the  via  PorfNcnsis  was  the  circus  of  the 
Arval  lirethren.  About  three  miles  out  on  the  Appian  way 
was  the  Circus  of  Maxentius,  erected  in  301)  a.d.  This  is 
the  best  preserved  of  all,  and  a  plan  of  it  is  shown  in  the 
next  paragraph.  On  the  same  road,  some  twelve  miles  from 
the  city,  in  the  old  town  of  Bovillae,  was  a  third,  making  six 
within  easy  reach  of  the  people  of  Rome. 


AMUSEMENTS 


^  *ti*J 


Plan  of  the  Circus.-All  of  the  "Roman  circuses  known  o  330 
us  had  the  same  general  arrangement,  which  will  be  r^id.ly 
understood  from  the  plan  of  the  Circus  of  Maxentms  shown 
in  Fi-  139.  The  long  and  comparatively  narrow  stretch  ot 
ground  which  formed  the  race  course  proper  {arena)  is 
almost  surrounded  hy  the  tiers  of  seats,  running  m  two  long 
parallel  lines  uniting  in  a  semicircle  at  one  end.     In  the 


FIGHBE  13».     PLAN   OF  THE  CIRCUS  OF  MAXKNTIUS 

middle  of  this  semicircle  is  a  gate,  marked  Fin  the  plan,  by 
which  the  victor  left  the  circus  when  the  race  was  over.  It 
was  called,  therefore,  the  porta  trUunphali^-.  Opposite  this 
gate  at  the  other  end  of  the  arena  was  the  station  foi   the 

Shariots  {A A  in  the  plan),  ^^^^^^  ^^ "?  .  -^'Tinto 
flanked  by  two  towers  at  the  corners  (//),  and  divided  mo 
two  equal  sections  by  another  gate  {B),  called   the   porta 


(^^mmmmm:^ 


FlUl'KE  MU.     (JPIMDUM  OF  A  CXRCUS 


po.npae.  by  which  processions  entered  the  circu.  I  hue 
are  also  gates  (////)  between  the  towers  and  the  seats.  Phe 
exterior  appearance  of  the  towers  and  barriers,  called 
together  the  oppidum.  is  shown  m  Fig.  U<). 

The  arena  is  divided  for  about  two-thirds  its  length  by  a  331 
fence  or  wall  {MM),  called  the  spina,  "backbone.        At  the 
end  of  this  were  fixed  pillars  (LL),  called  ..c/«.,  marking 


230 


THE    J'KIVATE     LIFE    OK    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


231 


the  inner  line  of  the  course.     Once  around  tlie  spina  vvus  a 
lap  {spatlunr,  curricnlum),  and   the  fixed  number  of  hijis, 
usually  seven  to  a  race,  was  called  a  missus.     1'he  last  lap, 
however,  had  but  one  turn,  that  at  the  mefa  pnimt,  the  one 
nearest  the  porta  triinnpJtdUs,  the  finish  being  a  straight- 
away dash  to   the   calx.     'I'his   M-as  a  chalk  lino   drawn   on 
the   arena  far  eiuKigh  away  from  the  second  t/ivfa  to  keep 
it  from   being   obliterated    by  the   hoofs   of   the   horses  as 
they  made   the  turn,   and  far   enough  also  from   the   car- 
ceres  to  enable  the  driver  to  stop  his   team  before  dashing 
into  them.     The  dotted  line  (DY)  is  the  supposed  location 
of  the  calx.     It  will  be  noticed  that  the  important  things 
about  the  developed  circus  are  the  arena,  carceres,  spina, 
mefae,  and  the  seats,  all  of  which  will  be  more  particularly 
described. 

332        The  Arena.— The  arena  is  the  level  space  surrounded  by 
the  seats  and  the  barriers.     The  name  was  derived  from  the 
sand  used  to  cover  its  surface  to  spare  as  much  as  possible 
the  unshod  feet  of  the  horses.     A  glance  at  the  plan  will 
show  that  speed  could   not  have  been  the  important  thing 
with  the  Romans  that   it   is  with  us.     The  sand,  the  short- 
ness of  the  stretches,  and  the  sharp  turns  between  them  were 
all  against  great  speed.     The  Roman  fouii<I    his  excitement 
in  the  danger  of  the  race.     In  every  representation  of  the 
race  course  that  has  come  down  to  us  may  be  seen  broken 
chariots,  fallen  horses,  and  drivers  uiuler  wheels  and  hoofs. 
The  distance  was  not  a  matter  of  close  measurement  either, 
but  varied  in  the  several  circuses,  the  Circus  .\raximus  being 
fully  300  foet  longer  than  the  Circus  of  Maxentius.     All 
seem  to  have  had  constant,  however,  the  nuni])er  of  laps, 
seven  to  the  race,  and  this  also  goes  to  prove  that  the  danger 
was  the  chief  element  in  the  popularitv  of    the   contests. 
The  distance  actually  traversed  in  the  Circus  of  Maxentius 
may  be  very  closely  estimated.     The  length  of  the  .phia  is 
about  1)50  feet.     If  we  allow  fifty  feet  for  the  turn  at  each 


<! 


^„a     each  lap   makes   a   distance  of  -2,000  feet,  and  si^x 
r       1  -2 ''go  feet      The  seventh  lap  had  but  one  turn  m  it 
tr\"e'"l  -etch  to  the  eaU  ^^^^^^ 

"X^::^  whole  length  of  the  arena  into  account, 

instead  of  that  merely  of  th^^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^   ^^   ^,^.333 

The   Barriers.— Ine  tajccitb   w^^it.  ^ 

charbL  and  teams  when  ready  for  the  races  to  beg.n.     Ihey 
were  a  series  of  vaulted 
chambers  entirely  sepa- 
rated   f  1 0111   each   other 
by  solid  walls,  and  closed 

behind  by  doors  through 
which  the  chariots  en- 
tered. The  front  of 
the  chamber  was  formed 
by  double    doors,  with 


FiuruK  141.    ThkCarckres 


by  dottble    doors,  ^ma  ^,^^  ^^^,y 

the  upper   part  "^^^^e    of  g  aU.     b     j  ^^^^  ^^^„^, 

Ught  which  It  -7-^^.  J^^Xmb  r  was   large   enough  to 
career  was  denved    ^^^^  ,,  ,^,^  ^^s  composed 

""^^  :  '^^'tT  ^Z  Zs^    horses    the    "prison" 

sometimes    ot    as    m.iny   a» 

,,„st  have  been   nearly  square      ihe.e  w  s  a U^       ^^^1^._ 

rate  clnunber   for  each  chanot^   ^^     Z  M    ^'"^   ''^'"" 
t,„.   the  highest   number   of  ^^r^^J^^  ,,,    ,,^e 
,i.   time  as  many   as  twelve  ^^^^^^^l^  ^.ovided, 
race,  and  twelve    rarnrc  had     ^licetoic    to         1 
.a.hough    four  chariots  was    the    visua     ^'^J  ^^  ^,, 

1        \  1  .^r  f/A    fho    rudit,    hall   to   mc    i^-ll 

these   chambers  h      ^ ^  t ^  ;    '  ^^  ^,^^  ,,,,,,,, 

porta  pom p((f'-      The  appeal  ancc  ui 

is  shown  in  Fig.  14:1.  /,.ooa\  Uv^f  the  rarceres33^ 

It  will  be  roticed  from  the  plan  (^o30)  that  the 


232 


THE    PKIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMI'SEMENTS 


233 


were  arranged  in  a  curved  line.  ^J1iis  is  supposed  to  have 
been  drawn  in  such  a  way  that  every  chariot,  no  matter 
which  of  the  carceres  it  liappened  to  occupy,  woukl  have  the 
same  distance  to  travel  in  order  to  reach  the  beginning  of 
the  course  proper  at  the  nearer  end  of  the  .^j^hia.  There 
was  no  advantage  in  position,  therefore,  at  the  start,  and 
places  were  assigned  by  lot.  In  later  times  a  starting  line 
{Ihiea  alba)  was  drawn  with  chalk  between  the  second  meta 
and  the  seats  to  the  right,  but  the  line  of  carcere.s  remained 
curved  as  of  old.  At  the  ends  of  the  row  of  chambers, 
towers  were  built  which  seem  to  liave  been  the  stands  for 

the   musicians;   over    the 
2)orf(i  po7np((c  was  the  box 
of  the  chief  official  of  the 
games     {dator    I  add  rum), 
and  between  his  box  and 
the  towers  were  seats  for 
his    friends    and  persons 
connected  with  the  games. 
In  Fig.    14*2  is    shown    a 
victor  pausing  before  the 
box    of    the  dator  to    re- 
ceive a  prize  before  riding 
in    triumph   around    the 
arena. 
335        The  Spina  and  Metae.— The  spina  divided  the  race  course 
into  two  parts,  making  a  mininnnn  distance  to  be  run.     Its 
length  was  about  two-thirds  that  of  the  arena,  but  it  started 
only   the  width  of  the  track  from  the  j^orta  triumphdUs, 
leaving  entirely  free  a  much  larger  space  at  the  end  near  the 
porta  pompae.     It  was  perfectly  straight,  but  did  not  run 
precisely  parallel  to  the  rows  of  seats;  at  the  end  B  in  the 
exaggerated  diagram  (Fig.  U3)  the  distance  BC  is  somewhat 
greater  than  the  distance  AB,  in  order  to  allow  more  room 
at  the  starting  line  {Unea  alba,  §334),  where  the  chariots 


Fkujre  Wl.    Box  OF  THK  Dator  Ludorum 


i 


I 

4 

>  ♦ 


FKit'RK  143. 


ui  hP  side  by  side,  than  further  along  the  course,  where 
2y  lonld  be  Ing  'out.     The  ...«.  so  na.ed  from  the. 

shape  (§28-^)'  ^^«^^  P'^'^'"'' 
erected  at  the  two  ends  ot 
the  qnna  and  architecturally 
a  part  of  it,  though  there 
may  have  been  a  space  be- 
tween.   In  Republican  times 

circus.     Attu  cue  .imp  ,         -       became  per- 

ir.  hPiispd  for  races  exclusively  and  mQspinn  r 

to  be  "«ed  JO  ^^^^  ^^^^^.^.^  proportions,  on 

mauen.     "  r^J!"    J  ^ye  concrete    (§-nO  f .)    and   was 
foundations   of    '"^^.^^^^^f;*" '      ^   ^j   ^,t   that    must  have 

:s^:i:nrri,::^.o. «...  *e,  ...a  .0 

the  other  side  of  the  arena.  ..reserved  to  us  in  336 

A  ronrcsentation  of  a  circus  has  been  preseiveu 
Aitpicsentauo  ^^^^      3.^,^^^  ^^,,^^,1, 

a  board-game  ot  some  sort  ^^^^    ^^  ^^^^^^^^^^   .^^^^ 

of  the  sputa,  (Fig.  U4). 
AYe    know    from  various 
reliefs  and  mosaics  that 
the  spina  of  the  Circus 
Maximus     was     covered 
with  a  series  of  statues 
and     ornamental    struc- 
tures,  such   as    obelisks, 
small  temples  or  shrines, 
columns  surmounted   by 

statues,  altars,  trophies, 

_    1*1    * 


Figure  144.  ^BiiiI^^^^I^J^H<>^VINo  Spina. 


»„a  fountains.     Augnstns  wns  .l,e  «rst  to  erect  an  obelisk  to 
the  Cireiis  Maximus;  it  «aB  restored  in  I08O  a.d.,  antl 


234 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


» 
■s 


AMUSEMBNTJ4 


235 


stands  in  the  Piazza  del 
about  78  feet  in  height, 
another  (Fig.  145)  in  the 
stands  before  the  Lateran 
105  feet.     The    obelisk 
entins  now  stands  in  the 
sides  these  purely  orna- 
circns  had  at  each  end 
supporting    seven   large 
one  of  which  was  taken 
each  lap,  in   order  that 
know    just    how    many 
Another  and  very  differ- 
is    shown    in    Fig.    14() 
Lyons.     This  is  a  canal 
an  obelisk  in  the  middle, 
developed     form      are 
this  mosaic,   three  con- 
set    on    a    semicircular 
massive  construction. 
337        The    Seats. — The 
in  the   Circus  Maximus 
wood,  but  accidents  ow- 
by  fire    had  led  by  the 
reconstruction  in  marble 


Popolo,  measuring  without  the  base 

Constantius  erected 
samecircus, which  now 
church,  measuring 
of  the  Circus  of  Max- 
Piazza  Navona.  Be- 
mental  features,  every 
of  it^  spuia  a  pedestal 
eggs  (orcf)  of  marble, 
down  at  the  end  of 
the  people  might 
remained  to  be  run. 
ent  idea  for  the  spj^a 
from  a  mosaic  at 
tilled  with  water,  with 
The  meiae  in  their 
shown  very  clearly  in 
ical  pillars  of  stone 
plinth,  all  of  the  most 


vn. 


sur 


seats  around  the  arena 
were  originally  of 
ing  to  decay  and  losses 
time  of  the  F]mpire  to 
except  perhaps  in  the 


^t 


VV^i^Kj.; 


'-*#|'    .- 


K^PTPlS^CTWk,-^-  <*svr'sn 


'mm^ 


.,-^*3vr  *ft^Ti[r^«S^^ 


"■i^^ 


w 


J.  been  f^n,  .he  "-^^^^^-^..-t  *,!  ran  along  bo.h 
t,  «a,  »  "«;'; ^P'':^X^il,,,ive  therrfove  «vitl,  them. 

i„„„,tan.    -.^-'-    -:,  t:^Jl  r:u.e.  of  high 

^'"f  ^' llCl     -»     elts  throughout  the  whole  «,«  to 

rank,      lie  also  dbM^n^  aPTiovqtino-   the   women 

,,,,ous  classes   and  ;;^;"-tir;,;rt^  sat  together 
f,on^  the  men,  thongh  ^^P/^^J^   I™;  ^J  ^  ^,,,,,,  of  open 
Between  the  podiam  and  the  tiacK 


FiGURK  145.    Obklisk  Once  in  Circus  Maximus 


<  «<•  \     I'WAii    ASSlMNA 

FlUCUK   14(..      A   L.ANAI-   ^ 


.or.,  and  when  Caesar  showe    f^^^  t^^'Zl^ 
had  a  canal  ten  feet  wide  and  t-  feet^  de  P  c    g  .^^^ 

,odiu.n  and  filled  with  ^^^^Z^^^^^^Jron.  broad 
Access  to  the  seats  -^^^^^Z^J  ^,:),  of  which 
stairways  rnnnnig  np  to  ^^'^  i'"[''l"    .^^^^^   Maximus.     The 

,.ere  were  V^o^^J^  l^r.!eZfi^..^   were   called 
horizontal  spaces    between  t^  ^_^^^       ^^^.^^^,^y, 

„,e»unH,,anA  each  of  these  ^vas  in  t  ^^^^^ 

-  /<-w\    -md  the  rows  ot  seats  m   m^ 
,»to  cu>m  (f'''^:^'',  i„  the  row  do  not  seem  to  have 
called  ora'lns.    JJ-  J^^^^'^^^^  ,^,„   they   are    now  m   the 
been    marked    oft    any   m  ^.^  ^^^^^ 

"bleachers"  at  our  baseball  giouncts. 


236 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


reserved  for  a  number  of  persons  they  were  described  as  so 
many  feet  in  such  a  row  {gradm)  of  such  a  section  {cunem) 
of  such  a  circle  {maenidimm). 
338  The  number  of  sittings  testifies  to  the  popularity  of  the 
races.  The  little  circus  at  Bovillae  had  seats  for  at  least 
8,()()()  people,  according  to  Iliilsen,  that  of  Maxentius  for 
about  2:3,000,  while  the  Circus  Maximus,  accommodating 
00,000  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  was  enlarged  to  a  capacity 
of  nearly  200,000  in  the  time  of  Constantius.     The  seats 


FKiLRK  147.     Restoration  of  thk  Circits  Maximus 

themselves  were  supported  upon  arches  of  massive  masonry; 
an  idea  of  their  appearance  from  the  outside  may  be  liad 
from  the  exterior  view  of  tlie  Coliseum  in  §350.  Every 
third  of  these  vaulted  chambers  under  the  seats  seems  to 
have  been  used  for  a  staircase,  the  others  for  shops  and 
booths  and  in  the  upper  parts  for  rooms  for  the  employes  of 
the  circus,  who  must  have  been  very  numerous.  Galleries 
seem  to  have  crowned  the  seats,  as  in  the  theaters  (§;}•>:), 
and  balconies  for  the  emperors  were  built  in  conspicuous 
places,  the  ruins  not  enabling  their  positions  to  be  fixed 


AMT^SEMKXTS 


237 


Im.  the  »rena  -J '^';  «  *""'  ^t,    th7)o.,«s  of  rtich 

tion  of  the  Circus  Maximus  (^rig.  l^*;, 

,re  quite  "-«f  f^"^         _,,^^,,  ^„,t  have  been  a  time,  of  339 

^'"te?tle  rfces  in  the  circus  were  open  to  all  who 
course,  when  the  laceh  lu  firivine  them, 

„„t  by  the  end  ol  the  Eepul  te  'J  ^^^^  ,„^„i,b,a 

part  m  the  games,  and  the  teams  »«' "  .    „„„„„iie<l 

""  '""^4  the"e  syulates  ,he  give,  ot  the  games  con- 
men.      wnn   t"*-^^  ^j  -.       w«ntod   (ten  or 

,„,,«,  ,„..  the  nnmher  ^o^™-    '  ^ Jr^r'^Ve.  and 

::r:n:r  ;ir  UeL.. ., ...  -. --t  x 

thing  needed.    These  synd.eates  »  ™  "";'3,,     ,„,  ,.„, 
„.,vn  by  their  drivers      ^  e  hear  »'  J-^"    '7^,.^  ^y^,,  ,b, 

<■■"■•""">  ??  ''%!"'«  rftru-g^trprlhiy.  and  the 
Mne   ivmela)   m  the    t.me  »    '^  8  1^  ^.^^^^  ^^^^^  „„ 

,,„„r  (,r„,  «^  soon  *;.  -^^^^;j  ,..,^„.,  „,«„,  between 
purple  and    ho  gold,     in    g  ^^^_^^^  ^,  ^„„,y 

th,so  orgam.at,ons.     The,  s  e  .^  ^    ^_^_  ^,„, 

on  Iheir  horses,  importing  them  iioi  ^     ,  i^,,„. 

Mauritania,  and  even  larger  sums,  prh,»n        rt       ^^ 
■l-hev  ruaintained  tram.ng  stable^  on  .  s       „  ^^ 

"'  ""'^';  :t:;;e,;;rh:  Xc  :n  merr.;  .he  .ttendams 

'eoaelL,  -d  messengers,  an  '^^^^^  the 
blanketa  in  their  sUlls.      I H"  i  '>  >'  >    1  ,  y 

eity;  eaeh /«rf,V;  had  its  I'^'^^^j/g'^  J.^j  AlUhe  tricks 
„.ere  lost  and  won  --  ;;-;;:^::,t  t ses  were  hocnsed, 
„(  the  ring  »«-  *    !  "L^":!  "e,  ;.  bribed,  and  even  poi- 

s:  r:    «  *«^  --  ^-^  ''^-'  '^"'"'- 


236 


THE    PKIVATK    LIFE    OF    THK    RoMAXS 


reserved  for  a  number  of  persons  they  were  described  as  so 
many  feet  in  such  a  row  (gradm)  of  such  a  section  {cuneK^) 
of  such  a  circle  {niaenidmwi). 
338  The  number  of  sittings  testifies  to  the  popularity  of  the 
races.  The  little  circus  at  Bovillae  had  seats  for  at  least 
8,000  people,  according  to  Iliilsen,  that  of  Maxentius  for 
about  ■^.•5,000,  while  the  Circus  Maximus,  accommodating 
(!0,000  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  Avas  enlarged  to  a  capacity 
of  nearly  ;>00,000  in  the  time  of  Constantius.     TJie  seats 


FlOLRK   147.      RkstOKATION   of   THK   ClKCUS   M.AXIMIT.S 

themselves  were  supported  ui)on  arches  of  uuissive  nuisonry; 
an  idea  of  their  appearance  from  the  outside  may  be  had 
from  the  exterior  view  of  the  Coliseum  in  §356.  Every 
third  of  these  vaulted  chambers  under  the  seats  seems  to 
have  been  used  for  a  staircase,  the  otliers  for  shops  and 
booths  and  in  the  upper  parts  for  rooms  for  the  employes  of 
the  circu.^,  who  must  have  been  very  numerous.  Galleries 
seem  to  have  crowned  the  seats,  as  in  the  theaters  (§3-2:), 
and  balconies  for  the  emperors  were  built  in  conspicuous 
places,  the  ruins  not  enabling  their  positions   to  be  fixed 


i 


AMUSEMKXTS 


237 


«•    ^H      « 


1 


•  1  A„  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  seats  from 
'*•:;;"  the  -^  na  1  ay L  had  ftom  an  attempted  reconstruc- 
uJn  rli^oXus  Maximus  (Fig.  147),  the  details  of  which 

,re  quite  "-f  f^;^         _,,,^.,.^.  ^,,t  have  been  a  time,  of  339 
JT^^^^  the  circus  were  op.i  to  all  who 
1  To  show  their  horses  or  their  skill  m  driving  them 
;"ft    he    n     o    the  Republic  no  persons  of  repute  took 
\l   le  '    ues   and  the  teams  and  drivers  were  furnished 

Tv    .«^^^^^^^^^^    ^f^^"^"'-'^  ^^'"^  ^'■"'"''''  Tf     ed 
til ;  Xt  so  far  as  concerned  trained  horses  and  trained 

fn^  the  gold      The  greatest  rivalry  existed  betx\een 
purple  and    he  gold,      x       g  immense  sums  of  money 

;;„„.i,ani,^  an.  even  ,a,ger  ...  pevha.«  „J>^ 

'I'hev  maintained  training  stable^  on  as  i.u^c 

,|,ese  estaWirinnuvt,       A  „  ^^^j„„,,_ 

Wankete  in  tlieir  stalls.      1  li.»  .  n  an  y  s] 

city;  eaeh/».^H;  ha.l  iu  P"''--'  ;    J,^^'  TlUhetrieks 

11  TirJ^!vom  rival  symlieates  or  bribed,  and  even  po,- 
Jed,  vie  Ire  tX,  wben  U,ey  were  proof  against  money. 


238 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


230 


340        lheTeams.-rho  chariot  nscl    in   the  races  was  low  and 
li^ht   clo.e.1  n.  front,  oi-eu   helun.l,  with  long  axies  unci  low 
Avhoels  to  lessen  the  risk  of  turning  over.     The  driver  seems 
to   huve   stoo.l   well   foi^wurd   in    the   car,    there   beincr  „o 
stundmg  place  behind  the  axle,  as  shown  in  the  cut  ^g 
14S).     I  he   teams   consisted   of   two   horses   (ihjm-),   three 
{frujav),  four  {qimdrhjae),  and  in  later  times  six  (sHiuae^  or 
even    seven   {septeiuyes),  but  the  four-liorse  team  m^s  tlie 
most  common  and  may  be  taken  as  the  type.     Two  of  the 
horses  were  yoked  together,  one  on  each  side  of  the  tongue 
the  others  were  attached   to  the  car  merelv  by  traces      Of 


FmuRE  148. 
R.AOTXo  Chariot  and  Tkam 


the  four  the  horse  to  the  extreme  left  was  the  most  impor- 
tant, because  the  mota  lay  always  on  the  left  and  the  highest 
skill  ot  the  driver  was  shown  in  turning  it  as  closely  as 
possible.     The  failure  of  the   horse   nearest  it  to  respond 
promptly  to  the  rein  or  the  word  might  mean  the  wreck  of 
the  car  (by  going  too  close)  or  the  loss  of  the  inside  track 
(by  going  too  wide),  and  in  either  case  the  loss  of  the  race 
Inscriptions  sometimes  give  the  names  of  all  the  horses  of 
the  team,  sometimes  only  the  horse  on  the  left  is  mentioned 
lietore  the  races  began  lists  of  the  horses  and  drivers  in  each 
were  published  for  the  gnidance  of  those  who  wished  to 
stake  their  money,  and  while  no  time  was  kept  the  records 


I 


,  ■,      . .  „„,1   „,ei.  were  Wl"»«l  >»»  «'g<"ly  i'«  "»«      ^''"'^ 
„1  horse,  .nl     »"  »;  ■>  ,,   j^  „.„,„nt  Ib.t  str«ngtl, 

.U^o."  ;Z;.n,  «„,c  of  who,,,  .,.,..  .0,,  t„.h.  f,.oe„„„,  h, 

their    skill   and 
daring    in    the 
course.   Only  in 
the    most    cor- 
rupt days  of  the 
Empire  did  citi- 
zens of  any  so- 
cial   position 
take  actual  part 
in     the     races. 
The  dress  of  the 
driver  is  shown 
in  Fig.  140 ;  es- 
pecially   to    be 
noticed  are  the 

close  fitting  cap, 

the  short  tunic  fiqurk  hu.   drkss  of  an  aurioa 

^'W  t^^ctio),  laced  around  the  body  with  leathern 
T^  f  the  sl^aps  of  leather  around  the  thighs,  the  shoulder 
thongs,  ^]^^  f  j;;\^^^^i,,r  protectors  for  the  legs.  Our  foot- 


> 


240 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    RO^fA^•S 


together  and  parsed  aroiin.l  the  driver's  body.  In  his  belt  he 
carried  a  knife  to  cnt  tlie  rein,  in  ea.se  he  Rh<.nid  be  thrown 
from  the  car,  or  to  cnt  the  Iraees  if  a  hor.se  should  fall  and 
become^entiu.gled  in  them.  The  races  gave  as  many  oppor- 
tunities then  as  now 
for  skillful   driving, 

^^^^^m^^y^i^^iifr^^^^^MPi      '"i^^     required     even 

more  of  strength  and 
daring.  What  we 
slionldcall"foub'n^" 
was  encouraged.  The 

driver  might  turn  his 
team    against    an- 
other,   might    upset 
tlie  car  of  a  rival  if 
he      couhl ;      liaving 
gained     the     inside 
track  lie  might  drive 
out  of    the   straight 
course    to    keep   a 
swifter     team    from 
passing    his.     The 
rewards  were  propor- 
tionately great.    The 
successful       fufrlf/a^ 
despised   though   his 
station,  was  the  pet 
and  pride  of  the  race- 
mad   crowd,    and 


^.M  -.v'^&^n^ 


■M 


%': 


■yk 


*i<'^i 


FlGTRK   \Tik). 
IXSCKIPTION    IN    Ho.NOK   OF   CrESCKN.S 


under  the  Empire  at  least  he  was  courted  and  feted  by  high 
and  low.  The  pay  af  successful  drivers  was  extravagant,  the 
rival  syndicates  bidding  against  each  other  for  the  services  of 
the  most  popular.  IJich  presents,  too,  were  given  them  when 
they  won  their  races,  not  only  by  ihe\v  fact  tones,  but  also  by 
outsiders  who  had  backed  them  and  profited  by  their  skill. 


AMUSEMENTS 


241 


Famous  Aurigae. — The  names  of  some  of  these  victors  342 
have  come  down  to  us  in  inscriptions  (§10)  erected  in  their 
honor  or  to  their  memory  by  tlieir  friends.  Among  these 
may  be  mentioned  Publius  Aelius  Gutta  Calpurnianus  (§58) 
of  the  late  Empire  (1,127  victories),  Caius  Apuleius 
Diodes,  a  Spaniard  (in  twenty-four  years  4,257  races,  1,402 
victories,  winning  the  sum  of  :k5,8(;3,120  sesterces,  about 
$1,800,000),  Ehivius  Scorpus  (2,048  victories  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven),  Marcus  Aurelius  Liber  (:),000  victories), 
Pompeius  Muscosus  (3,559  victories).  To  these  may  be 
added  Crescens,  an  inscription^  in  honor  of  whom  was  found 
at  Rome  in  1878  and  is  shown  in  Fig.  150. 

Other  Shows  of  the  Circus.— The  circus  was  used  less  343 
frequently  for  other  exhibitions  than  chariot  races.  Of 
these  may  be  mentioned  the  performances  of  the  desulfores, 
men  who  rode  two  horses  and  leaped  from  one  to  the  other 
while  going  at  full  speed,  and  ot  trained  horses  wdio 
performed  various  tricks  while  standing  on  a  sort  of  wheeled 
platform  which  gave  a  very  unstable  footing.  There  were 
also  exhibitions  of  horsemanship  l)y  citizens  of  good  standing, 
riding  under  leaders  in  squadrons,  to  show  the  evolutions  of 
the  cavalry.     The  liuhfs  Trdiae  was  also  performed  by  young 

^  * 'Crescens,  a  driver  of  the  l)hie  syndicate,  of  the  Moorish 
nation,  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  won  his  tirst  victory  as  a 
driver  of  a  four-horse  chariot  in  the  consulship  of  Lucius  Vip- 
stanius  IMessalla  on  tlie  birthday  of  the  deified  Nerva  in  the  twenty- 
fourth  race  with  these  horses:  Circ-ius,  Acceptor,  Dehcatus,  and 
Cotynus.  From  Messalla's  consulsliip  to  the  birthday  of  the  deified 
Claudius  in  the  consulship  of  Glabrio  he  was  sent  from  the  barriers 
six  liundred  and  eighty-six  times  and  was  victorious  forty-seven 
times.  In  races  between  chariots  with  one  from  each  syndicate  he 
won  nineteen  times,  with  two  from  each  twenty-three  times,  with 
three  from  each  five  times.  He  held  back  purposely  once,  took 
first  place  at  the  start  eight  times,  took  it  from  others  thirty-eiglit 
times.  He  won  second  place  one  hundred  and  thirty  times,  third 
place  one  luuidred  and  eleven  times.  His  winnings  amounted  to 
1,558,346  sesterces  (about  §78,000).^' 


242 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


men  of  the  nobility,  a  game  that  Vergil  has  described  in  the 
Fifth   Aeneid.     More   to  the  taste   of  the  crowd  were  the 
hunts  {vmdfidnes),  when  wild  beasts  were  turned  loose  in 
the  circus  to  slaughter  each  other  or  be  slaughtered  by  men 
trained  for  the  purpose.      We  read  of  panthers,  bears,  bulls, 
lions,  elephants,  hippopotami,  and  even  crocodiles  (in  arti- 
ficial lakes  made  in  the  arena)  exhibited  during  the  Republic. 
In  the  circus,   too,  combats  of  gladiators   sometimes  took 
place,  but  these  were  more  frequently  in  the  amphitheater. 
One  of  the  most  brilliant  spectacles  must  have  been  the  pro- 
cession {pompa  rircensis)  which  formally  opened  some  of  the 
public  games.     It  started  from  the  capitol  and  wound  its  way 
down  to  the  Circus  Maximus,  entering  by  the  porta  pompae 
(named  from  it,  §330),  and  passed  entirely  around  the  arena. 
At  the  head  in  a  car  rode  the  presiding  magistrate,  wearing 
the  garb  of  a  triumphant  general  and  attended  by  a  slave 
who  held  a  wreath  of  gold  over  his  head.     Next  came  a 
crowd   of   notables   on   horseback   and   on   foot,    then   the 
chariots  and  horseinen  who  were  to  take  part  in  the  games. 
Then    followed    priests,    arranged    by    their    colleges,    and 
bearers  of  incense  and  of  the  instruments  used  in  sacrifices, 
and  statues  of  deities  on  low  cars  drawn  by  mules,  horses,  or 
elephants,  or  else  carried  on  litters  {fercuJa)  on  the  shoulders 
of  men.     Bands  of  musicians  headed  each  division  of  the 
procession,  a  feeble  reminiscence  of  which  is  seen  in  the 
parade  through  the  streets  that  precedes  the  performance  of 
the  modern  circus. 
344       Gladiatorial  Combats.— (iladiatorial  combats  seem  to  have 
been  known  in  Italy  long  before  the  founding   of    Rome. 
We  hear  of  them  first  in  Campania  and  Etruria.     In  Cam- 
pania the  wealthy  and  dissolute  nobles,  we  are  told,  made 
slaves  fight  to  the  death  at  their  banquets  and  revels  for  the 
entertainment  of  their  guests.     In  Etruria  the  combats  go 
back  in  all  probability  to  the  olTering  of  human  sacrifices  at 
the  burial  of  distinguished    men    in    accordance    with    the 


f 


AMUSEMENTS 


243 


1 


ancient  belief  that  blood  is  acceptable  to  the  dead.  The 
victims  were  captives  taken  in  war,  and  it  became  the 
custom  gradually  to  give  them  a  chance  for  their  lives  by 
supplying  them  with  weapons  and  allowing  them  to  fight 
each  other  at  the  grave,  the  victor  being  spared  at  least  for 
the  time.  The  Romans  were  slow  to  adopt  the  custom,  the 
first  exhibition  being  given  in  the  year  2(>4  B.C.,  almost  five 
centuries  after  the  founding  of  the  city.  That  they  derived 
it  from  Etruria  rather  than  Campam'a  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  exhibitions  were  at 
funeral  games,  the  earliest  at 
those  of  l^rutus  Pera  in  *2<;4 
B.C.,  Marcus  Aemilius  Lepidus 
in  210  B.(^,  Marcus  Valerius 
Lavinus  in  200  n.c,  and  Pub- 
lius  Licinius  in  183  B.C. 

Eor  the  first  one  hundred 

years  after   their  introduction 

the  exhibitions  were  infrequent 

as  the  dates  just  given   show, 

those  mentioned    being  all   of 

whi(^h  we  have  any  knowledge 

during    the  period,    but    after 

tliis  time  they  were  given  more 

and  more  frequently  and  always 

on  a  larger  scale.     During  the 

Republic,     however,    they   re- 

mained  in  theory  at  least  private  games  {mfuiera),  not  public 

games  {lfun)\  that  is,  they  were  not  celebrated  on  fixed  days 

recurring  annually,  and  the  givers  of  the  exhibitions  had  to 

find  a  pretext  for  them  in  the  death  of  relatives  or  friends, 

and  to  defray  the  expenses  from  their  own  pockets.     In  fact 

we  know  of  but  one  instance  in  which  actual  magistrates  (the 
consuls  Publiusand  Manlius,  105  b.c.)  gave  such  exhibitions, 
and  we  know  too  little  of  the  attendant  circumstances  to  war- 


345 


i^^ 


FforuE  I")!.    A'^Samnitk" 


244 


TIIK     I'UIVATK     LIFP:    OF    THK     ROMANS 


mill  us  ill  jissuiningtluit  lliey  acted  in  thrir  otVicial  rupacity. 
Even  under  the  Kmpire  the  gladiators  did  not  tiglit  on  the 
days  of  the  regular  public  games.  Augustus,  however, 
provided  funds  for  ''extraordinary  shows''  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  praetors.  Under  Domitian  the  aediles-elect  were 
put  in  charge  of  these  exhihitions  which  were  given  regularly 
m  December,  the  only  instance  known  of  fixed  dates  for  the 
muiH'ra  (jladUltoria.     All  others  of  which  we  read  are  to  be 


Figure  152.    Weapons  of  Oladiators 

considered  the  freewill  offerings  to  the  people  of  emperors, 
magistrates,  or  private  citizens. 
346  Popularity  of  the  Combats.— The  Romans'  love  of  excite- 
ment (§-nf>)  made  the  exhibitions  immediately  and 
immensely  ])opular.  At  the  first  exhibition  mentioned 
above,  that  in  honor  of  Brutus  Pera,  three  pairs  of  gladi- 
ators only  were  shown,  but  in  the  three  that  followed  the 
number  of  pairs  rose  in  order  to  twenty-two,  twenty-five, 
and  sixty.  By  the  time  of  Sulla  politicians  had  found  in 
the  miinera  the  most  effective  means  to  win  the  favor  of  the 
people,  and  vied  with   one  another  in  the  frequency  of  the 


AMUSEMENTS 


245 


shows  and  the  number  of  the  combatants.  Besides  this, 
the  same  politicians  made  these  shows  a  pretext  for  sur- 
rounding themselves  with  bands  of  bravos  and  bullies,  all 
called  gladiators  Avhether  destined  for  the  arena  or  not,  with 
which  they  started  riots  in  the  streets,  broke  up  public 
meetings,  overawed  the  courts  and  even  directed  or  pre- 
vented the  elections.  Caesar's  preparations  for  an  exhibi- 
tion when  he  was  canvassing  for  the  aedileship  {i)h  B.C.) 
caused  such  general  fear  that  the  senate  passed  a  law 
limiting  the  number  of  gladiators  that  a  private  citizen 
might  emj)loy,  ami  he  was  allowed  to  exhibit  onlv  o'-^O  pairs. 
The  bands  of  dodius  ami  Milo  made  the  city  a  slaughter- 
house   in   /).')   B.C.,  and 


order  was  not  restored 
until  late  in  the  follow- 
ing year  when  Pompey 
as  ''sole  consul' '  put 
an  end  to  the  battle  of 
the  bludgeons  with  the 
swords  of  his  soldiers. 
During  the  Empire  the 
mimber  actually  exhib- 
ited almost  surpasses 
belief.  Augustus  gave  eight  nnnu'va,  in  which  no  less  than 
ten  thousand  men  fought,  but  these  were  distributed  through 
the  whole  period  of  his  reign.  Trajan  exhibited  as  many  in 
four  months  only  of  the  year  loT  a.d.,  in  celebration  of  his 
conquest  of  the  Dacians.  The  first  (Jordian,  emperor  in  ^->:)S 
A.J).,  gave  finhiera  monthly  in  the  year  of  his  aedileshij), 
the  number  of  pairs  running  from  150  to  500.  These  exhi- 
bitioiis  did  not  cease  until  the  fifteenth  century  of  our  era. 

Sources  of  Supply.— In  the  early  Republic  the  gladiators  347 
were  captives  taken  in  war,  naturally  men  practiced  in  the 
use  of  weapons  (Sl<;i),  who   thouglit  death  ])y  the  sword   a 
happier   fate    than    i\u^.   slavery   that  awaited   them    (gUo). 


KKilKK    ir>:?.      WorNBKI)  (il.ADIAToK 


24-6 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


Tills  always  remained  the  chief  source  of  supply,  though  it 
became  inadequate  as  the  demand  increased.  From  the 
time  of  Sulla  training-schools  were  established  in  which 
slaves  with  or  without  previous  experience  in  war  were 
fitted  for  the  profession.  These  were  naturally  slaves  of  the 
most  intractable  and  desperate  character  (§170).  From  the 
time  of  Augustus  criminals  were  sentenced  to  the  arena 
(later  'Ho  the  lions''),  but  only  non-citizens,  and  these  for 
the  most  heinous  crimes,  treason,  murder,  ar:^oii,  and  the 
like.  Finally  in  the  late  Empire  the  arena  became  the  last 
desperate  resort  of  the  dissipated  and  prodigal,  and  these 
volunteers  were  numerous  enough  to  be  given  as  a  class  the 
name  aucfordtl. 
348  As  the  number  of  the  exhibitions  increased  itl3ecame 
harder  and  harder  to  supply  the  gladiators  demanded,  for  it 


FiuUKK  154.    Helmets  of  Gladiators 

must  be  remembered  that  there  were  ex]ii])itions  in  many  of 
the  cities  of  the  provinces  and  in  the  smaller. to w^ns  of  Italy 
as  well  as  at  Rome.  The  lines  were,  therefore,  constantly 
crossed,  and  thousands  died  miserably  in  the  arena  whom 
only  the  most  glaring  injustice  could  number  in  the  classes 
mentioned  above.  In  Cicero's  time  provincial  governors 
were  accused  of  sending  unoffending  provincials  to  be 
slaughtered  in  Rome  and  of  forcing  Roman  citizens,  obscure 
and  friendless,  of  course,  to  fight  in  the  provincial  shows. 
Later   it   was   common  enough  to  send   to  the  arena  men 


AMUSEMENTS 


247 


sentenced  for  the  pettiest  offenses,  when*  the  supply  of  real 
criminals  had  run  short,  and  to  trump  up  charges  against 
i\iQ  innocent  for  the  same  purpose.  The  persecution  of  the 
Christians  was  largely  due  to  the  demand  for  more  gladia- 
tors. So,  too,  the  distinction  was  lost  between  actual  pris- 
oners of  war  and  peaceful  non-combatants;  after  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  all  Jews  over  seventeen  years  of  age  were  con- 
demned by  Titus  to  work  in  the  mines  or  fight  in  the 
arena.  Wars  on  the  border  were  waged  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  taking  men  who  could  be  made  gladiators,  and  in 
default  of  men,  children  and  women  were  sometimes  made 
to  fight. 

Schools  for  Gladiators.— The  training-schools  for  gladi-349 
ators     {ludl     (jhididtorll)     have    been    mentioned    already. 
Cicero  during  his  consulship  speaks  of  one  at  Rome,  and 
there  were  others  l)efore  his  time  at  Capua  and  Praeneste. 
Some  of  these  were  set  up  by  wealthy  nobles  for  the  purpose 
of  preparing  their  own  gladiators  for  vnlnem  which  they 
expected  to  give;  others  were  the  property  of  regular  dealers 
in  gladiators,   who  kept  and  trained  them  for  hire.     The 
business  was  almost  as  disreputable  as  that  of  the  lenones 
(>$130).      During  the  Empire    training-schools    were   main- 
tained at  public  expense  and  under  the  direction  of  state 
officials  not  only  in  Rome,  where  there  were  four  at  least  of 
these  schools,  but  also  in  other  cities  of  Italy  where  exhibi- 
tions were  frequently  given,  and  even  in  the  provinces.     The 
purpose  of  all  the  schools,  public  and  private  alike,  was  the 
same,  to  make  the  men  trained  in  them  as  etfective  fighting 
machines  as  possible.     The  gladiators  Avere   in   charge   of 
competent  training  masters  {lanisfac)-^  they  were  subject  to 
the  strictest  discipline;  their  diet  was  carefully  looked  after, 
a  special  food  {-^afjlna  gJcvlidldria)  being  jirovided  for  them; 
regular   gymnastic  exercises  were   prescribed,    and   lessons 
given    in    the    use    of    the    various    weapons   by    recognized 
experts  {magistrl,  doctor es).     In  their  fencing  bouts  wooden 


24.8 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


249 


u 

o 

< 


C 
A 

o 

c 


IS 

o 

M 


swords  {rfides)  were  used.  The  gladiators  associated  in  a 
school  were  collectively  called  n  ffnnili((. 

These  schools  had  also  to  serve  as  barracks  for  the  gladi-350 
ators  between  engagements,  that  is,  practically  as  houses  of 
detention.  It  was  from  the  school  of  Lentulus  at  Capua 
that  Spartacus  had  escaped,  and  the  Romans  needed  no 
second  lesson  of  the  sort.  The  general  arrangement  of 
these  barracks  may  be  understood  from  the  ruins  of  one 
uncovered  at  Pompeii,  though  in  this  case  the  buildings  had 
been  origi- 
nally planned 
for  another 
purpose,  and 
the  rearrange- 
ment may  not 
be  ideal  in  all 
respects.  A 
central  court, 
or  exercise 
ground  (Figs. 
155,  156)  is 
surrounded  by 
a  wide  colon- 
nade, and  this 
in     turn     by 

rows  of  buildings  two  stories  in  height,  the  general  arrange- 
ment being  not  unlike  that  of  the  peristyle  of  a  house 
(jJ'iO'i).  The  dimensions  of  the  court  are  nearly  120  by 
150  feet.  The  buildings  are  cut  up  into  rooms,  nearly 
all  small  (about  twelve  feet  square),  disconnected  and  open- 
ing upon  the  court,  those  in  the  first  story  being  reached 
from  the  colonnade,  those  in  the  second  from  a  gallery 
to  wliich  ran  several  stairways.  These  small  rooms  are 
su])posed  to  be  the  sleeping-rooms  of  the  gladiators,  each 
accommodating    two    persons.       There    are    seventy-one    of 


FiGUKE  156.    Plan  of  8cii(m)l  for  Gladiatx)r.s 


250 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


251 


them  (marked  7  on  the  plan),  affording  room  for  142  men. 
Tlie  uses  of  the  larger  rooms  are  purely  conjectural.     The 
entrance  is  supposed  to  have  been  at  3,  with  a  room,   Jo, 
for  the  watchman  or  sentinel.     At  9  was  an  exedra,  where 
the  gladiators   may  have   waited   in  full  panoply  for  tlieir 
turns  in  the  exercise  ground,  I.     The  guard-room,  cS',  is  iden- 
tified by  the  remains  of  stocks,  in  which  the  refractory  were 
fastened  for  punishment  or  safe-keeping.      They  permitted 
the  culprits  to  lie  on  their  backs  or  sit  in  a  very  uncomfort-. 
able  position.     At  (J  was  the  armory  or  property  room,  if  we 
may  judge  from  articles  found  in  it.     Kear  it  in  the  corner 
wa^  a  staircase  leading  to  the  gallery  before  the  rooms  of 
the  second  story.     ^J^he  large  room,  IG,  was  tlie  mess-room, 
with  the  kitchen,   12,  opening  into  it.      The  stairway,  iJ, 
gives  access   to   the  rooms  above   kitchen  and   mess-room, 
possibly  the  apartments  of  tlie  trainers  and  their  helpers. 
351        Places  of  Exhibition.— During  the  liepublic  the  combats 
of  gladiators  took  place  sometimes  at  the  grave  or  in  the 
circus,  but  regularly  in  tlie  forum.     None  of  these  places 
was  well  adapted  to  the  purpose,  the  grave  the  least  of  all. 
The  circus  had  seats  enough,  hut  the  ,sjrum  was  in  the  way 
(S:5:)5)  and  the  arena  too  vast  to  give  all  the  spectators  a  sat- 
isfactory view  of  a  struggle  that  was  confined  practicallv  to  a 
single  spot.     In   the   forum,  on   the  other  hand,   the'^seats 
could    be    arranged    very    conveniently;    they    would    run 
parallel  with  the  sides,  would  be  curved  around  the  corners, 
and  would  inclose  only  sufficient  space  to  afford  room  for 
the  combatants.     The  inconvenience  here  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  seats  had  to  be  erected  before  each  performance 
and  removed  after  it,  a  delny  to  business  if  they  were  con- 
structed carefully  and  a  menace  to  life  if  they  were  put  up 
hastily.     These   considerations   fi-ially  led    the   IJomans,   as 
they   had   led    the    (/ampanians   half   a   century  before,   to 
l)rovide  permanent  seats  for  the  unlNenf,  arranged  as  they 
had  been  in  the  forum,  but  in  a  place  where  thej  would  not 


I. 


interfere  with  public  or  private  business.  To  these  places 
for  shows  of  gladijitors  came  in  the  course  of  time  to  be 
exclusively  applied  the  word  amphithedtrum,  which  had 
been  previously  given  in  its  correct  general  sense  to  any 
place,  the  circus  for  example,  in  which  the  seats  ran  all  the 
way  around,  as  opposed  to  the  theater  in  which  the  rows  of 
seats  were  broken  by  the  stage. 

Amphitheaters  at  Rome. — Just  when  the  first  amphithe-352 
aters,  in  the  special  sense  of  the  word,  were  erected  at  Kome 
can  not  be   determined   with    certainty.      The    elder    Pliny 
(f70  a.d)  tells  us  that  in  the  year  55  B.C.  Caius  Scribonius 
Curio  Iniilt  two  wooden  theaters  back  to  back,  the  stages 


FiaUKK   157.      EXTKRIOK   OF    A  M  I'lII  Til  KATKK   AT    POMPKII 

being,  therefore,  at  opposite  ends,  and  gave  in  them  simul- 
taneous theatrical  performances  in  the  morning.  Then, 
while  the  spectators  remained  in  their  seats,  the  two  theaters 
were  turned  by  machinery  and  brought  together  face  to  face, 
the  stages  were  removed,  and  in  the  space  they  had  occupied 
shows  of  gladiators  were  given  in  the  afternoon  before  the 
united  crowds.  This  story  is  all  too  evidently  invented  to 
account  for  the  perfected  amphitheater  of  Pliny's  time, 
which  he  must  have  interpreted  to  mean  "a  double 
theater."  We  are  also  told  that  Caesar  erected  a  wooden 
amphitheater  in  40  B.C.,  but  we  have  no  detailed  description 
of  it,  and  no  reason  to  think  that  it  was  anything  more  than 
|a  temporary  atfair.     In  the  year  20  n.c,  however,  an  amphi- 


252 


THK    I'RIVATK    LIKK    (»K    THE    KUMA.NS 


theater  was  built  by  Statilius  Taurus,  partially  at  least  of 
stone,  that  lasted  until  the  great  conflagration  in  the  reign 
of  Kero  (.;i  a.d.).  Nero  himself  had  previously  erected 
one  of  wood  in  the  Campus.  Finally,  just  before  the  end  of 
the  first  century  of  our  era,  was  completed  the  aniphillwdtnuH 
Fhh'ivm,  later  known  as  the  rolot<siium  or  cv/i.u'iini,  whic-li 
was  large  enough  and  durable  enough  to  make  forever  unnec- 
essary the  erection  of  otiier  similar  structures  in  Ihe  city. 


FlOTRK   158.      INTKRIOK  OP  AMPHITHEATKR  AT  PoMPKII 

3S3  The  Amphitheater  at  Pompeii.— The  essential  features  of 
iin  am])hitheater  may  bo  most  easily  understood  from  the 
ruins  of  the  one  at  Pompeii,  erected  about  7.5  it.c,  almost 
half  a  century  before  the  first  permanent  structure  of  the 
sort  at  Home  (§352),  and  the  earliest  known  to  us  from 
either  literary  or  monumental  sources.  The  e.xterior  is 
shown  in  Fig.  157  (see  also  Ovcrbock,  pp.  ITH-ISO;  Afau- 
Kelsey,  pp.  ^OC-^l^)  and  a  section  in  Fig.  loti.  It  will  be 
seen  at  (mce  that  the  arena  and  most  of  the  seats  lie  in  a 


AMUSE.MENTS 


253 


great  hollow  excavated  fm*  the  purpose, 
thus  making  sufficient  for  the  exterior  a 
low  wall  of  hardiv  more  than  ten  to  thir- 
teen  feet  in  height.  Even  this  wall  was 
necessary  on  only  two  sides,  as  the  amphi- 
theater was  built  in  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  citv  and  its  south  and  east  sides 
were  bounded  by  the  city  walls.  The 
shape  is  elliptical,  the  major  axis  being 
4:44  feet,  the  minor  :34*^.  The  arena  occu- 
pies the  middle  space.  It  was  encircled 
by  thirty-five  rows  of  seats  arranged  in 
three  divisions,  the  lowest  {'infima  or 
lina  cavea)  having  five  rows,  the  second 
{media  cavea)  twelve,  and  the  highest 
{^anima  cavea)  eighteen.  A  broad  ter- 
race ran  around  the  ampliitheater  at  the 
height  of  the  topmost  row  of  seats.  Access 
to  this  terrace  was  given  from  without  by 
the  double  stairway  on  the  west,  shown 
in  Fig.  157,  and  by  single  stairways  next 
the  city  walls  on  the  east  and  south  {10  in 
Fig.  160).  Between  the  terrace  and  the 
top  seats  was  a  gallery,  or  row  of  boxes, 
eacli  about  four  feet  square,  probably  for 
women.  Beneath  the  boxes  persons  could 
pass  from  the  terrace  to  the  seats.  The 
amphitheater  had  seating  capacity  for 
about  '^0,000  people. 

The  arena  is  shown  in  Fig.  158,  its 
plan  in  Fig.  100.  It  was  an  ellipse  with 
axes  of  228  and  121  feet.  Around  it  ran 
a  wall  a  little  more  than  six  feet  high,  on 
a  level  with  the  top  of  which  were  the 
lowest  seats.     For  the  protection  of  the 


^ 


m 


354 


254 


AMUSEMENTS 


255 


rl^ 


THE    run  ATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


spectators  when  wild  unimiils  were  sliowii,  a  grating  of  iron 
bars  was  put  np  on  the  top  of  the  arena  wall.  Access  to 
the  aretui  and  to  the  seats  of  the  ('ave((  una  and  the  carea 
media  was  given  by  tlie  two  undergronnd  passageways,  1  and 
2  in  Fig.  1<5(),  of  which  2  turns  at  right  angles  on  account  of 
the  city  wall  on  the  south.  From  the  arena  ran  also  a  third 
passage,  J,  low  and  narrow,  \ii'd([\\\gio{\\e  porta  Libit ineiL.sis^ 
through  which  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  dragged  with 


FroiTRK  1(50.     Plan  op  Arkna  ix  Amphitheater  at  Pompeii 

ropes  and  hooks.  Near  the  mouths  of  these  passages  were 
small  chambers  or  dens,  marked  ^,  -^,  6\  the  purposes  of 
which  are  not  known.  The  floor  of  the  arena  was  covered 
with  sand,  as  in  the  circus  (go:]*^),  but  in  this  case  to  soak 
up  the  blood  as  well  as  to  give  a  firm  footing  to  the  gladi- 
ators. 
355  •  Of  the  part  of  this  ampliitheater  set  aside  for  the  specta- 
tors tlie  cavea  'una  only  was  supported  upon  artificial  founda- 
tions.    All   the  other  seats  were  constructed  in  sections  as 


FioniK  KU.     BisET-i.iuM 


means  were  obtained  for  the  purpose,  the  people  in  the  mean- 
time finding  places  for  themselves  on  the  sloping  banks  as  in 
the  early  theaters  {p-25).  The  cavea  hna  was  strictly  not  sup- 
plied with  seats  all  the  way  around,  a  considerable  section  on 
the  east  and  west  sides  being 


arranged 


with  four  low, 
broad  ledges  of  stone,  rising 
one  above  the  other,  on 
which  the  members  of  the 
city  council  could  place  the 
seats  of  honor  {/nsellia,  Fig. 
ICl)  to  which  their  rank 
entitled  them.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  the  section  on  the  east  the  lowest  ledge  is  made  of 
double  width  for  some  ten  feet;  this  was  the  place  set  apart 
for  the  giver  of  the  games  and  his  friends.  In  the  cavea 
media  and  the  cavea  summa  the  seats  were  of  stone  rest- 
ing on  the  bank  of  earth.  It  is  probable  that  all  the 
places  in  the  lowest  section  were  reserved  for  people  of  dis- 
tinction, that  seats  in  the  middle  section  were  sold  to  the 
well-to-do,  and  that  admission  was  free  to  the  less  desirable 
seats  of  the  highest  section. 

The  Coliseum.— The  Flavian  amphitheater  {^^^i)  is  the  356 
best  known  of  all  the  buildings  of  ancient  Home,  because  to 
a  larger  extent  than  others  it  has  survived  to  the  present 
day.     For  our  purpose  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  its  history 
or  to  describe  its  architecture;  it  will  be  sufficient  to  com- 
pare its  essential  parts  with  those  of  its  modest  prototype 
in  Pompeii.     The  latter  was  built  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
city,  in  a  corner  in  fact  of  the  city  walls   (§:35:5);  the  coli- 
seum lay  almost  in  the  center  of  IJome,  the  most  generally 
accessible  of  all  the  public  buildings.     The  interior  of  the 
Pompeian  structure  was  reached  through  two  passages  and 
by  three  stairways  onlv,  while  eighty  numbered  entrances 
made  it  easy  for  the  Roman  multitudes  to  find  their  appro- 


256 


THE    PRrVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


257 


priate  places  in  the  coliseum.  Much  of  the  earlier  amphi- 
theater was  underi^i-ound ;  all  of  the  corresponding  parts  of 
the  coliseum  were  above  the  level  of  the  street,  the  walls 
rising  to  a  height  of  nearly  IW  feet.  This  gave  opportunity 
for  the  same  architectural  magnificence  that  had  distin- 
guished the  Koman  theater  from  that  of  the  Greeks  (g32()). 


s^^fe^S^ 


Vi  p  ■  »  ^ 


f!''^*^! 
t^l 


hTX'Z*' 


tf'" 


1    • 


'"-■]/r 


r  v^^ 


li  j:i  jviviiii  t 


■-*■' 


fTts-iM 


tt:^:' 


frt'li 


sl^.lp^ 


357 


Figure  162.    Exterior  of  the  Coliseum 

The  general  eflfect  is  shown  in  Fig.  10-2,  an  exterior  view  of 
the  ruins  as  they  exist  to-day. 

The  interior  is  shown  in  Fig.  16*).  The  form  is  an 
ellipse  with  axes  of  020  and  olo  feet,  the  buikling  covering 
nearly  six  acres  of  ground.  The  arena  is  also  an  ellipse,  its 
axes  measuring  2S7  and  ISO  feet.  The  width  of  the  space 
appropriated  for  the  spectators  is,   therefore,   lon^  feet  all 


arouiul  the  arena.  It  will  l)e  noticed,  too,  that  subterranean 
chambers  were  constructed  under  the  whole  building, 
including  the  arena.  'Jliese  furnished  room  for  the  regi- 
ments of  gladiators,  the  dens  of  wihl  beasts,  the  machinery 
for  the  transformation  scenes  that  (iibbon  has  described  in 
his  twelfth  chapter,  and  above  all  for  the  vast  nund)er  of 
water  and  drainage  pipes  that  made  it  possible  to  turn  the 
arena  into  a  lake  at  a  moment's  notice  and  as  quickly  to  get 


Figure  163.    Interior  of  Coliseum 

rid  of  the  water.  IMie  wall  that  surrounded  the  arena  was 
fifteen  feet  high  with  the  side  faced  with  rollers  and 
defended  like  the  one  at  Pompeii  with  a  grating  or  network 
of  metal  above  it.  The  top  of  the  wall  was  level  with  the 
floor  of  the  lowest  range  of  seats,  called  the  podifun  as  in  the 
circus  (§:5:>:),  and  this  had  room  for  two  or  at  the  most 
three  rows  of  marble  thrones,  'iliese  were  for  the  use  of  the 
emperor  and  the  imp(  rial  family,  the  giver  of  the  games,  the 


258 


THE    I>RIVATK    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


259 


magistrates,  senators,  Vestal  virgins,  ambassadors  of  foreign 
states,  and  other  persons  of  consequence. 
358  'J'he  arrangement  of  the  seats  with  the  method  of  reacli- 
ing  them  is  shown  in  the  sectional  plan,  Fig.  ir)4.  The 
seats  were  arranged  in  three  tiers  {nKteuiihia,  g:]:)7)  one 
above  the  other,  separated  by  broad  passageways  and  rising 
more  steeply  the  fartlier  they  were  from  the  aremi,  and  were 
crowned  by  an  open  gallery.  In  the  plan  the  podufv)  is 
marked  A.     Twelve  feet  above  it  begins  the  first  maenidnn)n, 


|b  pf[w  fi  jj  ffl  rj  li  a 


G  a  a  ii  a 


m t_  j. 

Mowing  I 


Figure  164.    Skction  of  Coliseum 

B,  with  fourteen  rows  of  seats  reserved  for  members  of  the 
equestrian  order.  Then  came  a  broad  jjraeclncfid  (§327) 
and  after  it  the  second  maeuidmnn,,  C,  intended  for  ordinary 
citizens.  Back  of  this  was  a  wall  of  considerable  height  and 
above  it  the  third  maenidnu))i^  D,  supplied  with  rougli 
wooden  benches  for  the  lowest  classes,  foreigners,  slaves,  and 
the  like.  The  row  of  pillars  along  the  front  of  this  section 
made  the  distant  view  all  the  worse.  Above  this  was  an 
open  gallery,  E,  in  w^hich  women  found  an  unwelcome  place. 


«/      r 


Xo  other  seats  were  open  to  them  unless  they  were  of  suffi- 
cient distinction  to  claim  a  place  upon  the  podiui)}.  At  the 
very  top  of  the  outside  wall  was  a  terrace,  F,  in  w^hicli  were 
fixed  masts  to  support  the  awnings  that  gave  protection 
against  the  sun.  The  seating  capacity  of  the  coliseum  is 
said  to  have  been  80,000,  and  it  had  standing  room  for 
20,000  more. 

Styles  of  Fighting. — Gladiators  fought  usually  in  pairs,  359 
man  against  man,  but  sometimes  in  masses  {(jrejidtlin^ 
C((tervdflm).  In  early  times  they  were  actually  soldiers, 
captives  taken  in  war  (§347),  and  fought  naturally  with  the 
weapons  and  equipment  to  which  they  w^ere  accustomed. 
When    the   profes- 

'/ 


sionally  trained 
gladiators  came  in, 
they  were  given  the 
old  names,  and  were 
called  Samnites, 
Thracians,  etc.,  ac- 
cording to  their 
arms  and  tactics. 
In  much  later  times 

victories  over  distant  peoples  were  celebrated  wdth  com- 
bats in  which  the  weapons  and  methods  of  Avar  of  the  con- 
quered were  shown  to  the  people  of  liome;  thus,  after  the 
conquest  of  Britain  esseddrn  exhibited  in  the  arena  the 
tactics  of  chariot  fighting  which  Caesar  had  described  gener- 
ations before  in  his  Commentaries.  It  was  natural  enough, 
too,  for  the  people  to  want  to  see  different  arms  and  differ- 
ent tactics  tried  against  each  other,  and  so  the  Samnite  was 
matched  against  the  Thracian,  the  heavy  armed  against  the 
light  armed.  This  became  under  the  Empire  the  favorite 
style  of  combat.  Finally  when  people  had  tired  of  the 
regular  shows,  novelties  were  introduced  that  seem  to  us 
grotesque;  men  fought  blindfold   {andabatae)^   armed   with 


Figure  IfiS.    Retiarius  and  Secutor 


260 


THE     PRIVATK    LIFK    OF    THK     ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


261 


^^. 


FmjI'KK    1<)().      Th  kakx 


two  Hwords  (jUnnirharrl)^  with  the  bisso  {/ffqfU'afd7'i\s)y  with 
a  liuiivy  not  {refidril)^  tiiid  there  were  Inittles  of  dwjirfs  and 
of    dwtirfrf    with    women.      01'    these    the    rctiilrius   became 

immensely  popuhir.  He  carried  a  huo^e 
net  in  which  he  tried  to  entangle  his 
opponent,  always  a  secnfor  (see  below), 
despatching  him  with  a  dagger  if  the 
throw  was  successful.  If  unsuccessful 
he  took  to  flight  while  preparing  his  net 
for  another  throw,  or  if  he  had  lost  his 
net  tried  to  keep  his  opponent  off  with 
a  heavy  three-pronged  spear  (/V-srn^r/), 
his  only  weapon  beside  tlie  dagger 
(Fig.  ir.o). 

360     ■'' "^'  Weapons  and  Armor. — The  armor  and 

weapons  used  in  these  com])ats  are  known  from  pieces  found 
in  various  places,  some  of  which  are  shown  in  Fig.  152,  S-UT), 
and  from  paintings  and  sculpture,  but  we  are  not  always  able 
to  assign  them  to  definite  classes  of  gladiators.  The  oldest 
class  was  that  of  the  Saninites  (Fig.  151,  >J')44).  They  had 
belts,  thick  sleeves  on  the  right  arm 
{in((inc(()^  helmets  with  visors,  shown 
in  Fig.  154,  >J*)48,  greaves  on  the  left 
leg,  short  swords,  and  tlie  long  shiehl 
{sciltiiw).  Under  the  Fmpire  the  name 
Samnite  was  gradually  lost  and  gladia- 
tors with  equivalent  equipment  were 
called  hoplomnchl  (heavy  armed),  when 
matched  against  the  lighter  armed  Thra- 
cians,  and  seciVdres^  when  they  fought 
with  the  retidril.  The  Thracians  (Fig. 
ITjO)  had  much  the  same  equipment  as 
the  Saninites,  the  mark  of  distinction  being  the  small  shield 
{parma)  in  place  of  the  snlfuin  and,  to  make  up  the  differ- 
ence, greaves  on  both  legs.    They  carried  a  curved  sword. 


.ti.lHlii.M 


RET 
SECVNd' 


FKiTRK  1()7. 
VOTIVK  GALKKrS 


The  ftauls  were  heavy  armed,  but  we  do  not  know  how  they 
were  distinguished  from  the  Saninites.  In  later  times  they 
were  called  murDnJlones,  from  an  ornament  on  their  helmets 
shaped  like  a  fish  {mormur).  The  retidril  had  no  defensive 
armor  except  a  leather  protection  for  the  shoulder,  shown  in 
Fig.  1^)5.  Of  course  the  same  man  might  appear  by  turns 
as  Samnite,  Thracian,  etc.,  if  he  was  skilled  in  the  use  of 
the  various  weapons;  see  the  inscription  in  ^MV^, 

Announcements  of  the  Shows.— The  games  were  adver-361 
tised  in  advance  by  means  of  notices  painted  on  the  walls  of 
public  and  private  houses,  and  even  on  the  tombstones  that 
Uned  the  approaches  to  the  towns  and  cities.  Some  are 
worded  in  very  general  terms,  announcing  merely  the  name 
of  the  giver  of  the  games  with  the  date: 

A  •    SVETTI    •   C'khti 

AEUILIS    •    FAMILIA    •    GLADIATOKIA    •    PUGNAH    •    POMPKIS 
PR    .    K    •    JVNIAS    •    VeNATIO    •    ET    •    VELA    •     KRUNT^ 

Others  promise  in  addition  to  the  awnings  that  the  dust 
will  be  kept  down  in  the  arena  by  sprinkling.  Sometimes 
when  the  troop  was  particularly  good  the  names  of  the 
gladiators  were  announced  in  pairs  as  they  would  be  matched 
together,  with  details  as  to  their  equipment,  the  school  in 
which  each  had  been  trained,  the  number  of  his  previous 
battles,  etc.  To  such  a  notice  on  one  of  the  walls  in  Pomi)eii 
some  one  added  after  the  show  the  result  of  each  combat.  • 
The  following  is  a  specimen  only  of  this  announcement'-^: 

M\  NUS  •  N.  .  .   •  IV  •  III 
Prii)  .  Idus   •  Idihus  •  Mais 
T  M  0  T 

V.    PUGNAX    .    NeR    .    Ill  V-     CyCNVS     •    IVL    •    MH 

p.  MvRRANVs  .  Ner  .  Ill  m.  Attic vs  >  Ivl  »  XIV 

1  "On  the  last  day  of  May  the  gladiators  of  the  Aedile  Aulus 
Suettius  Certus  will  figlit  at  Pompeii.  Tliere  will  also  be  a  Imnt 
and  the  awnings  will  be  used." 

2  "The  games  of  N.  .  .from  the  12th  to  the  15th  of  May.  The 
Tliracian    Pugnax,   of   the   gladiatorial  school   of    Nero,    who   has 


262 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


263 


The  letters  in  italics  before  the  names  of  the  gladiators 
were  added  after  the  exhibition  by  some  interested  spectator, 
and  stand  for  virif,  per  lit,  and  missnsi  ("beaten,  but  spared"). 
Other  announcements  added   to  such  particulars  as  those 
given   above   the   statement   that   other    pairs    than    those 
mentioned  would  fight  each  day,  this  being  meant  to  excite 
the  curiosity  and  interest  of  the  people. 
362        The    Fight    Itself.— ^Fhe    day   before    the    exhibition    a 
Danquet  {ceyia  libera)  was  given  to  the  gladiators  and  they 
received  visits  from  their  friends  and  admirers.     The  games 
took  place  in  the  afternoon.     After  the  editor  mfineris  had 
taken  his  place  (S.*)55),  the  gladiators  marched  in  procession 
aronnd  the  arena,  pausing  before  him  to  give  the  famous 
greeting:  morlturl  te  sdJutant.     All  then  retired  from  the 
arena  to  return  in   pairs   according  to   the  published  pro- 
gramme.    The  show  began  with  a  series  of  sham  combats, 
the  prolusio,  with  blunt  weapons.     When  the  people  had  had 
enough  of  this  the  trumpets  gave  the  signal  for  the  real 
exhibition  to  begin.     Those  reluctant  to  fight  were  driven 
into  the  arena  with   whips  or  hot  iron  bars.     If  one  of  the 
combatants  was  clearly  overpowered  without  being  actually 
killed,  he  might  ai)peal  for  mercy  by  holding  up  his  finger  to 
the  editor.     It  was  customary  to  refer  the  plea  to  the  people, 
who  waved  cloths  or  napkins  to  show  that  they  wished  it  to 
be  granted,  or  pointed  their  thumbs  downward  as  a  signal 
for  death.     The  gladiator  who  was  refused  release  {miss id) 
received  the  death  blow  from  his  opponent  without  resist- 
ance.    Combats  where  all  must   fight  to  the  death  were  said 
to  be  sine  nmsione,  but  these  were  forbidden  by  Augustus. 
The  body  of  the  dead  man  was  dragged  away  through   the 


fought  three  times  will  be  matched  against  the  mnrmiUo  Mur- 
ranus,  of  the  same  school  and  the  same  number  of  fights.  Tlie 
hoplomachus  Cycnus,  from  the  school  of  Julius  Caesar,  who  has 
fought  eight  times  will  be  matched  with  the  Thracian  Atticus  of 
the  same  school  and  of  fourteen  fights.'' 


i 


.  V 


Figure  l«»8.    Tessera  Gladiatoria 


]wrta   Libitinensis,  sand  was  sprinkled  or  raked  over  the 
blood,  and  the  contests  were  continued  until  all  had  fought. 

The  Rewards.— Before  making  his  first  public  appearance  363 
the  gladiator  was  technically  called  a  tiro.  After  his  first 
victory  he  received  a  token  of 
wood  or  ivory  (Fig.  108),  which 
had  upon  it  his  name  and  that 
of  his  master  or  trainer,  a  date, 
and  the  letters  sp,  spect,  spec- 
tat,  or  SPECTAViT,  meaning  per- 
haps popidus  spectdvit.     When 

after  many  victories  he  had  proved  himself  to  be  the  best  of 
his  chiss,  or   second  best,    in  \i\s  familia,   he  received  the 

title  oijyrimus.^  or  secundus, 
j)dlus.     When  he  had  Avon 
his    freedom  he  was    given 
a    wooden    sword     (nidis). 
From  this  the  titles  prima 
rudis    and    secunda    rudis 
seem  to  have  been  given  to 
those  who  were  afterwards 
employed  as  training  mas- 
ters {dortdres,  g341))  in  the  schools.     ^J^ie  rewards  given  to 
famous    gladiators  by  their  nuisters  and  backers   took    the 
form  of  valuable  prizes  and  gifts  of  money.     These  may  not 
have  been  so  generous  as  those  given  to  the  anrh/ae  {^Ui), 
but  they  were  enough  to  enable  them  to  live  in  luxury  the 
rest  of  their  lives.     The  class  of  men,  however,  who  followed 


D  •  M  •  ET  •  Memokiae 

AETEKNAE    •    IIYLATIS 
DYMACHAEKO    •    SIVE 
ASSIDARIO    •    P    •    VII   •    RV  . 

ERMAIS 

COXIVGI    • 
P    •    C    •    ET 


•    CONIVX 
KARISSIMO 


s 


AS 


D 


^LepiduH  Mummeidnl  s{ervus).     SpedCtvit    miense)    lunio,    C. 

Sent  id  Conside. 

2 Inscription  on  tomb  of  a  gladiator.  ''To  the  Gods  Manes  and 
the  lasting  memory  of  Hylas,  a  dimachaerus  or  essedarms  of  seven 
victories  and  head  trainer.  His  wife  Ermais  erected  this  monu- 
ment to  her  beloved  husband  and  dedicated  it,  reservmg  the  usual 
rights." 


261- 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


265 


this  profession  probably  found  their  most  aceeptable  reward 
in  the  immediate  and  Listing  notoriety  that  their  strength 
and  courage  brought  them.  That  they  did  not  shrink  from 
the  Infanna  that  the  profession  entailed  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  they  did  not  try  to  liide  their  connection  with  the 
amphitheater.  On  the  contrary,  their  gravestones  record 
their  classes  and  the  number  of  their  victories,  and  have 
often  cut  upon  them  their  likenesses  with  the  riidU  in  their 
hands. 

364  Other  Shows  in  the  Amphitheater.— Of  other  games  that 
were  sometimes  given  in  the  amphitheaters  something  has 
been  said  in  connection  with  the  circus  (g343).  The  most 
important  were  the  vendtiones,  liuuts  of  wild  beasts.  These 
were  sometimes  killed  by  men  trained  to  hunt  them,  some- 
times made  to  kill  each  other.  As  the  amphitheater  was 
primarily  intended  for  the  butchery  of  men,  the  renatldnes 
given  in  it  gradually  but  surely  took  the  form  of  man-hunts. 
The  victims  were  condemned  criminals,  some  of  them  guilty 
of  crimes  that  deserved  death,  some  of  them  sentenced  on 
trumped  up  charges,  some  of  them  (and  among  these  were 
women  and  children)  condemned  "to  the  lions"  for  political 
or  religious  convictions.  Sometimes  they  were  supplied  with 
weapons,  sometimes  they  were  exposed  unarmed,  even 
fettered  or  bound  to  stakes,  sometimes  the  ingenuity  of  their 
executioners  found  additional  torments  for  them  by  making 
them  play  the  parts  of  the  sufferers  in  the  tragedies  of 
mythology.  The  arena  w^as  well  adapted,  too,  for  the 
maneuvering  of  boats,  when  it  had  been  flooded  with  water 
(S35T),  and  naval  battles  {naumachi(u)  were  often  fought 
within  the  coliseum  as  desperate  and  as  bloody  as  some  of 
those  tliat  have  given  a  new  turn  to  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  earliest  exhibitions  of  this  sort  were  given  in  artificial 
lakes,  nlso  called  iutumachiae.  The  first  of  these  was  dug 
hy  Caesar,  for  a  single  exhibition,  in  46  B.C.  Augustus  had 
a  permanent  basin  constructed  in  2  b.c,  measurins:  1,800  bv 


i 


1,200  feet,  and  four  others  at  least  were  built   by  Uter 

emperors. 

The  Daily  Bath.  -To  the  Roman  of  early  times  the  l)uth  365 
had  stood  for  liealth  and  decency  only,  lie  wasiied  every 
day  his  arm^  and  legs,  for  the  ordinary  costume  left  them 
exposed  (i<2;5'.i).  ^lis  body  once  a  week.  He  bathed  at  home, 
using  a  very  priTnitive  sort  of  wash-room,  situated  near  the 
kitchen  (§20:5)  in  order  that  the  water  heated  on  the  kitchen 
stove  might  be  carried  into  it  with  the  least  possible  incon- 
venience?     By  tlie  last  century  of  the  Republic  all  this  had 


Figure  169.    Hali.  in  Thermae  op  Caracalla 


changed,  though  the  steps  in  the  change  can  not  now  be 
followed.  The  bath  had  become  a  part  of  the  daily  life  as 
momentous  as  the  rena  itself,  which  it  regularly  preceded. 
It  was  taken,  too,  by  preference  in  one  of  the  public  bathing 
establishments  which  were  by  this  time  operated  on  a  largo 
scale  in  all  parts  of  Rome  and  also  in  the  smaller  towns  of 
Italy  and  even  in  the  provinces.  These  offered  all  sorts  of 
baths,  plain,  plunge,  douche,  with  massage  (Turkish),  and 
besides  in  many  cases  features  borrowed  from  the  (Jreek  gym- 
nasia, exercise  grounds,  courts  for  various  games,   reading 


2GG 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


267 


and  conversation  rooms,  libraries,  gymnastic  apparatus, 
everything  in  fact  that  our  athletic  clubs  now  provide  for 
their  members.  The  accessories  had  become  really  of  more 
importance  than  the  bathing  itself  and  justify  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  bath  under  the  head  of  amusements.  In  places 
where  there  w^ere  no  public  baths,  or  where  they  were  at  an 
inconvenient  distance,  the  wealthy  fitted  up  bathing  places 


Figure  170.    Tepidarium  at  Pompeii 

in  their  houses,  but  no  matter  how  eUiborate  they  were  the 
private  baths  were  merely  a  makeshift  at  best. 
366  Essentials  for  the  Bath.— The  ruins  of  the  public  and 
private  baths  found  all  over  the  Roman  world,  together  with 
a  dissertation  by  Vitruvius,  and  countless  alhisions  in  litera- 
ture, make  very  clear  the  general  construction  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  bath,  but  show  that  the  widest  freedom  was 
allowed  in  matters  of  detail.  For  the  luxurious  bath  of 
classical  times  four  things  were  thought  necessary:  a  warm 
ante-room,  a  hot  bath,  a  cold  bath,  and  the  rubbing  and 
anointing  with  oil.     All  these  might  have  been  had  in  a 


single   room,  as   all   but   the   last   are   furnished   in  every 
modern  bathroom,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  find  at  least 
three  rooms  set  apart  for  the  bath  in  very  modest  private 
houses  and  often  five  or  six,  while  in  the  public  establisli- 
ments  this  number  may  be  multiplied  several  times.     In  the 
better   equipped   houses    were  provided:     (1)   A   room    for 
undressing  and  dressing  {((pocly/eriurn),   usually  unheated, 
but  furnished  with  benches  and  often  with  lockers  for  the 
clothes;  (2)  the  warm  ante-room  {tepiddriioi),  in  Avhich  the 
bather  waited  long  enough  for  the  perspiration  to  start,  in 
order  to  guard  against  the  danger  of  passing  too  suddenly 
into  the  high  temperature  of  the  next  room;  (3)   the  hot 
room    {calddrium)    for    the   hot    bath;   (4)    the    cold   room 

{fngiddrium)   for  the  cold  bath;  (5)   the   unctdrkiw,   the 

room  for  the  rubbing  and  anointing  with  oil  that  finished 

the  bath,  from  which  the  bather  returned  into  the  apodn- 

terium  for  his  clothes. 

In  the  more  modest  houses  space  was  saved  by  using  a  367 

room    for    several    purposes.      The    separate    ajjodyterium 

might  be  dispensed  with,  the  bather  undressing 

and  dressing  in  either  the  fr'Kjiddrlum  or  te- 

piddrium    according   to    the  weather;    or  the 

unctdrium  might  be  saved  by  using  the  tepidd- 

Hum  for  this  purpose  as  well  as  for  its  own. 

In  this  way  the  suite  of  five  rooms  might  be 

reduced  to  four  or  three.     On  the  other  hand, 

private  houses  had  sometimes  an  additional  hot 

room  without  water  {lardnicum),   used    for  a 

sweat  bath,  and  a  public  bathhouse  would  be 

almost  sure  to  have  an  exercise  ground  {palae- 

stra)^  with  a  pool  at  one  side  {piscina)  for  a 

cold    plunge    and  a    room    adjacent    {destric' 

tdrium)  in  which  the  sweat  and  dirt  of  exercise  were  scraped 

off  with  the  strigilis  (Fig.  171)  before  and  after  the  bath. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  bathers  went  the  round  of 


FlOURE  171. 

Stkigiles 


268 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    FvOMANS 


AMT^SEMEXTH 


269 


all  the  rooms  in  the  order  given  above,  though  that  was 
common  enough.  Some  woukl  dispense  with  the  hot  bath 
altogether,  taking  instead  a  sweat  in  the  Jdcdnicum^  or  failing 
that,  in  the  calddriuin^  removing  the  perspiration  with  the 
strigil,  following  this  with  a  cold  bath  (perhaps  merely  a 
shower  or  douche)  in  the  frhjiddrlnin  and  the  rubbing 
with  linen  cloths  and  anointing  with  oil.  A^oung  men  who 
deserted  the  campus  and  the  Tiber  (§317)  for  the  palaestra 
and  the  bath  would  content  themselves  with  removing  the 
elfects  of  their  exercise  with  the  scraper,  taking  a  plunge  in 
the  open  pool,  and  then  a  second  scraping  and  the  oil. 
Much  would  depend  on  the  time  and  the  tastes  of  individu- 
als, and  physicians  laid  down  strict  rules  for  their  patients 
to  follow. 
368  Heating  the  Bath.  — The  arrangement  of  the  rooms,  were 
they  many  or  few,  depended  upon  the  method  of  lieating. 
This  in  early  times  must  have  been  by  stoves  placed  in  tlie 
rooms  as  needed,  but  by  the  end  of  the  Republic  the 
furnace  had  come  into  use,  heating  the  rooms  as  well  as  the 
water  with  a  single  fire.  The  hot  air  from  the  furnace  was 
not  conducted  into  the  rooms  directlv,  as  it  is  with  us,  but 
was  made  to  circulate  under  the  floors  and  througli  spaces 
between  the  walls,  the  temperature  of  the  room  depending 
upon  its  proximity  to  the  furnace.  The  lacdnicHii)^  if  tliere 
was  one,  was  put  directly  over  the  furnace,  next  to  it  came 
the  calddrium  and  then  the  tepiddriuin^  while  the  frlfji- 
ddrium  atul  the  apodifterium  having  no  need  of  heat  were  at 
the  greatest  distance  from  the  fire  and  without  connection 
with  it.  If  there  were  two  sets  of  baths  in  the  same  build- 
ing, as  there  sometimes  were  for  the  accommodation  of  both 
men  and  women  at  the  same  time,  the  two  caJddria  were 
put  on  opposite  sides  of  the  furnace  (see  the  plan  in  v^oKi) 
and  the  other  rooms  were  connected  with  them  in  the  regu- 
lar order,  the  two  entrances  being  at  the  greatest  distance 
apart.     The  method  of  conducting  the  air  under  the  floors  is 


/ 


FiGURK  172.     SUSPKNSURA 


shown  in  Fig.  IT'2.  There  were  really  two  floors,  the  first 
being  even  with  the  top  of  the  firepot,  the  second  {suspcii- 
sura)  with  the  top 
of  the  furnace,  lie- 
tween  them  was  a 
space  of  al)0ut  two 
feet  into  which  the 
hot  air  passed.  On 
the  top  of  the  fui- 
nace,  just  above  the 
level,  therefore,  of 
the  second  floor, 
Avere  two  kettles 
for  heating  the 
water.      One   was 

placed  Avell  back,  where  the  fire  was  not  so  hot,  and  con- 
tained water  that  was  kept  merely  warm;  the  other  was 
placed  directly  over  the  fire  ami  the  water  in  it,  received 
from  the  former,  was  easily  kept  intensely  hot.  Near  them 
was  a  third  kettle  containing  cold  water.  From  these  three 
kettles  the  water  was  piped  as  needed  to  the  various  rooms. 
The  arrangement  will  be  easily  understood  after  a  study  of 

the  plans  in  gsJ^T^),  378. 

The  Caldarium.— The  hot  water  bath  Avas  taken  in  tlie369 
('(dddriiim  {reUa  ralddria),  which  served  also  as  a  sweat  bath 
when  there  was  no  lacdnicnm.  It  was  a  rectangular  room 
and  in  the  public  baths  was  longer  than  wide  (Mtruvius  says 
the  proportion  should  be  3:  2)  with  one  end  rounded  off  like 
an  apse  or  bay  window.  At  the  other  end  stood  the  large 
liot  water  tank  {alveus),  in  which  the  bath  was  taken  by  a 
number  of  persons  at  a  time.  The  alveus  (Fig.  173)  was 
built  up  two  steps  from  the  floor  of  the  room,  its  lengtli 
equal  to  the  width  of  the  room  and  its  breadth  at  the  top 
not  less  than  six  feet.  At  the  bottom  it  was  not  nearly  so 
wide,  the  back   sloping  inward,  so  that  the  bathers  could 


270 


THE    1>KIVATR    LIFE    OP    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


271 


recline  against  it,  and  the  front  having  a  long  broad  step, 
for  convenience  of  descent  into  it,  upon  which,  too,  the 
bathers  sat.  The  water  was  received  hot  from  the  furnace, 
and  was  kept  hot  by  a  metal  heater  {tesf field),  opening  into 
the  alveiis  and  extending  beneath  the  floor  into  the  hot  air 
chamber.  Xear  the  top  of  the  tank  was  an  overflow  pipe, 
and  in  the  bottom  was  an  escape  pipe  which  allowed  the 
water  to  be  emptied  on  the  floor  of  the  calddrlum,  to  be 
used  for  scrubbing  it.  In  the  apse-like  end  of  the  room  was 
a  tank  or  large  basin  of  metal  (Iclbrum,  solium),  which  seems 
to  have  contained  cool  water  for  the  douche.     In  private 


irVrr'Vtfi/  '■''"'■■■•' 


FiGURK  173.    Section  of  Caldarium 

baths  the  room  was  usually  rectangular  and  then  the  Jdhrnyn 
was  placed  in  a  corner.  For  the  accommodation  of  those 
using  the  room  for  the  s-veat  bath  only,  there  were  benches 
along  the  wall.  The  air  in  the  calddrinm  would,  of  course, 
be  very  moist,  while  that  of  the  laconicnm  would  be  per- 
fectly dry,  so  that  the  effect  would  not  be  precisely  the  same. 
370  The  Frigidarium  and  Unctorium.— The  /r?/yiV/a/'/?r//?  {rella 
frlrjiddria)  contained  merely  the  cold  plunge  bath,  unless  it 
was  made  to  do  duty  for  the  ajmhjterium,  when  there  would 
be  lockers  on  the  wall  for  the  clothes  (at  least  in  a  public 
bath)  and  benches  for  the  slaves  who  watched  them.  Per- 
sons who  found  the  bath   too  cold  would  resort  instead  to 


\' 


the  open  swimming  pool  in  the  palaestra,  which  would  be 
warmed  by  the  sun.  In  one  of  the  public  baths  at  Pompeii 
a  cold  bath  seems  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  tepidd- 
rivm,  for  the  benefit,  probably,  of  invalids  who  found  even 
tlie  pcdaestra  too  cool  for  comfort.  The  final  process,  that 
of  scraping,  rubbing,  and  oiling,  was  exceedingly  important. 
The  bather  was  often  treated  twice,  before  the  warm  bath  and 
after  the  cold  bath;  the  first  might  be  omitted,  but  the  sec- 
ond never.  The  special  room,  dnctdrlum,  was  furnished 
with  benches  and  couches.  The  scrapers  and  oils  were 
brought  by  the  bathers,  usually  carried  along  w^ith  the  tow^els 
for  the  bath  by  a  slave  (capsdrius).  The  bather  might 
scrape  {destringere)  and  oil  [deungere)  himself,  or  he  might 
receive  a  regular  massage  at  the  hands  of  a  trained  slave.  It 
is  probable  that  in  the  large  baths  expert  operators  could  be 
hired,  but  we  have  no  direct  testimony  on  the  subject. 
When  there  w^as  no  special  unctorium  the  tepiddrium  or 
apodijtermm  was  made  to  do  instead. 

A  Private  Bathhouse.— In  Fig.  174  is  shown  the  plan  of  371 
a  private  bath  in  Caerwent,  Monmouthshire,   England,  the 
ruins  of  which  w^ere  discovered  in  the  year  1855.     It  dates 
from   about  the  time  of  Constantino   (306-333),  and  small 
though  it  is  gives  a  clear  notion  of  the  arrangement  of  the 
rooms.     The   entrance   A   leads    into    the  frigiddrium    B, 
lO'G"  X  6'G''  in  size,  with  a  bath  (7,  lO'G"  x  3':]".     Off  this 
is   the  apodyterium  D,   10'6"  x  13'3",  which  has  the  apse- 
like end  that  the  calddriu)a  ought  to  have.     Xext  is  the 
tejnddrium  E,  12'  x  12',  w^hich  contrary  to  all  the  rules  is 
the  largest  instead  of  the  smallest  of  the  four  main  rooms. 
Then  comes    the  caldarium   F,  12'  x  7'G",   with  its    alveus 
G,  6'  X  3'  X  2',  but  with  no   sign  of  its  Idbriim  left,  perhaps 
because    tlie    basin    was    too    small    to    require    any    special 
foundation.     Finally  comes  the  rare  laconicum  H,  8'  x  -l', 
built  over  one  end  of  the  furnace  /,  which  was  in  the  base- 
ment room  KK.     The    hot    air  passed  as  indicated  by  the 


372 


070  THE    PRTVATE    I.TFE    OV    TTTK    ROMANS 

,,,-ows,  c..-ai.incr  tin-.....!,  openings  m-ur  tl.e  roof  in  the 
outside  wall  of  the  apo.hHi^riun.  It  sl.onl.l  l.e  ,K.tu-e.l  that 
there    wa.   no    .lireet    passage    from   the   rabinrnm   to   tl>e 

fnnldfinnin,      no 

{special  entrance  to 
the  larniurym,  and 
that  the  tepidd- 
r'nim  must  have 
served  as  the  unr- 
fdrium.  The  di- 
mensions of  the 
batli  as  a  wliole 
arc  :n  X  :U  feet. 

The    Public 
Baths.— To  the 
simpler  bathhouse 
of  the  earlier  times 
as  well    as  to  the 
bath  itself   was 
given  the  name  Jr//- 
nanfi    {ImVineKm), 
used   often  in  the 
plural,   Indnea,   by 
the  dactylic  poets 
for   metrical    con- 
venience       The  more  complex  establishments  of  later  times 
vTolliea  laUeae.  and   to  the  very  largest  with    eatures 
derived  from  the  (ireek  gymnasia  (;<:5<;5)  the  name  Ihemute 
WIS  tinallv  given.     These  words,  however,  were  loosely  irsed 
,;  o^teV  interchanged  in   practice.    Public  baths  are  first 
hoard  of  after  the  second  Tunic  war.     They  nicreased  m  nun.- 
ber  rapidly,  KO  at  least  being  operated  in  Rome  m  the  year 
m  B.a,  and  later  there  were  more  than  SCO.      ^Mth  equa, 
rapidity  they  spread  through  Italy  and  the  proynces,  all  the 
towns  and  manv  villages  even  having  at  least  one.      Ihey 


AMUSEMENTS 


273 


A-  1^ 

FioriiK  i:t.    Bath  at  Cakkwknt 


'•» 


l/J 


h 


were  public  onlv  in  the  sense  of  being  open  to  all  citizens 
who  could  pay  the  modest  fee  demanded  for  their  use.  Free 
baths  there  were  none,  except  when  some  magistrate  or 
i.ublic-spirited  citizen  or  candidate  for  office  arranged  to 
relieve  the  people  of  the  fees  for  a  definite  time  by  meetnig 
ihe  charges  himself.  So  Agrippa  in  the  year  33  b^c.  kept 
open  free  of  charge  ITO  establishments  at  Home.  The  rich 
sometimes  provided  free  baths  for  the  people  in  their  wills, 

but  always  for  a  limited  time. 

Management.-Tlie  first  public  baths   were   opened   by  373 

individuals  for  speculative  purposes.     Others  were  built   by 

wealthy  men  as  gifts  to  their  native  towns,  as  such  men  give 

hospitals  and  libraries  now,  the  administration  being  lodged 

with  the  town  authorities  who  kept  the  buildings  m  repair 

and  the  baths  open  with  the  fees  collected.     Others   were 

built  by  the  towns  out  of  public  funds,  and  others  still  as 

monuments  by  the  later  enu-erors.     However  started,  the 

management  was  practically  the  same  for  all.      J  hey  were 

leased  for  a  definite  time  and  for  a  fixed  sum  to  a  manager    . 

iconcbnior)  who  paid  his  expenses  and  made  his  profits  out 

of  the  fees  which  he  collected.     The  fee  (Indnrafi.^n^)  was 

hardly  more  than  nominal.     The  regular  price  at  Rome  for 

men  seems  to  have  been  a  .,uadran.,  less  than  a  cent,  the 

bather  furnishing  his  own  towels,  oil,  etc.,  as  we  have  seen 

(§370).     Women  paid  more,  perhaps  twice  as  much,  while 

ciiildin  up  to  a  certain  age,  unknown  to  ^^^;  P;"^  .  "f  ^'"S; 

Prices  varied,  of  course,  in  different  places.    It  is  likely  that 

In.her  prices  were  charged  in  some  baths  than  m  others  m 

the  same  city,  either  because  they  were  more  l;^-^""-"«  y 

equipped  or  to  make  them  more  exclusive  and  f-^^;'0'ia ble 

than  the  rest,  but  we  liave  no  positive  knowledge  that  this 

lyfiQ  done 

Hours' Opened.-The  hath  was  regularly  taken  between  374' 

the  merUiafio  and  eena,  the  hour  varying,  therefore  within 

narrow  limits  in  different  seasons  and  for  different  classes 


274. 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


275 


(g:310).  In  general  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  taken  about 
the  eighth  hour,  and  at  this  hour  all  the  conductdns  were 
bound  by  their  contracts  to  have  the  baths  open  and  all 
things  in  readiness.  As  a  matter  of  fact  many  people  pre- 
ferred to  bathe  before  the  prandium  (§302),  and  some  at 
least  of  the  baths  in  the  larger  places  must  have  been  open 
then.  All  were  regularly  kept  open  until  sunset,  but  in  the 
smaller  towns,  where  public  baths  were  fewer,  it  is  probable 
that  they  were  kept  open  later;  at  least  the  lamps  found  in 
large  numbers  in  the  Tompeian  baths  seem  to  point  at 
evening  hours.  It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  man- 
agers would  keep  the  doors  open  as  long  as  was  profitable 

for  them. 

375  Accommodations  for  Women.- AVomen  of  respectability 
bathed  in  the  public  baths,  as  they  bathe  in  public  places 
now,  but  with  women  only,  enjoying  the  opportunity  to 
meet  their  friends  as  much  as  did  the  men.  In  the  large 
cities  there  were  separate  baths  devoted  to  their  exclusive 
use.  In  the  larger  towns  separate  rooms  were  set  apart  for 
them  in  the  baths  intended  generally  for  men.  Such  a  com- 
bination is  shown  in  the  next  paragraph  and  the  arrange- 
ment  has  been  explained  in  §368.  In  the  very  small  places 
the  bath  was  opened  to  men  and  women  at  different  hours. 
Late  in  the  Empire  we  read  of  men  and  women  bathing 
together,  but  this  was  true  of  women  only  who  had  no  claim 
to  respectability  at  all. 

376  Thermae.— In  Fig.  175  is  shown  a  plan  of  the  so-called 
Stabian  baths  at  Pompeii,  w4iieh  gives  a  correct  idea  of  the 
smaller  iliermae  and  serves  at  the  same  time  to  illustrate  the 
combination  of  baths  for  men  and  women  under  the  same 
roof.  In  the  plan  the  unnumbered  rooms  opening  upon  the 
surrounding  streets  were  used  for  shops  and  stores  inde- 
pendent of  the  baths,  those  opening  within  w^ere  for  the  use 
of  the  attendants  or  for  purposes  that  can  not  now  be  deter- 
mined.    The  main  entrance  (i),  on  the  south,  opened  upon 


the  palaedra  (5),  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  colonnades 
and  on  the  west  by  a  bowling  alley  (J),  Avhere  large  stone 
balls  were  found.  Behind  the  bowling  alley  w^as  the^i/^rJ;^^ 
{G)  open  to  the  sun,  with  a  room  on  either  side  (J,  7)  for 
douche  baths  aiul  a  desfricfdrium  {4)  for  the  use  of  the 
athletes.  There  were  two  side  entrances  {S^  11)  at  the 
northwest,  with  the  porter's  room  {1.2)  and  manager's  office 


Figure  175.    Thekmab  at  Pompeii 


{10)  within  convenient  reach.  The  room  {9)  at  the  head  of 
the  bowling  alley  w^as  for  the  use  of  the  players  and  may  be 
compared  with  the  similar  room  for  the  use  of  the  gladiators 
marked  9  in  Fig.  150  (g350).  Behind  the  office  was  the 
latrina  {H)- 

On  the  east  are  the  baths  proper,  the  men's  to  the  south.  377 
There  were  two  apodyteria  {2^^  25)  for  the  men,  each  with 


276 


THE    I'UIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


AMUSEMENTS 


277 


a  sepuiate  waiting-room  for  the  slaves  {2n,  J7)  with  a  door  to 
the  street.     Then  come  in  order  tlie  fruji'ldrium  {2.i),  the 
tepiddriHi,!  (;?5),  and  the  rah/driiim  {Jl).     The  fepl(ldri>n>,, 
contrary  to  custom,  had  a  cold  bath  as  explained  in  g:5:»>. 
The  main  entrance  to  the  women's  bath  was  at  the  northeast 
(77),  but  there  was  also  an  entrance  from  the  Jiorthwest 
through    the   long   corridor    {!■'>),    both    opening    into    the 
apo(h/feri>im   (M).     This  contained    in   one  corner  a  cold 
bath",  there  being  no  separate  frh/i(hh-ium  in  the  baths  for 
women.     Then  come  in  the  regular  position  the  tepiddrium 
{18)  and  cahhlriam  {in).     The  furnace  {20)  was  between  the 
two  calddria,  and  the  position  of  the  three  kettles  {§-2r.S) 
which  furnished   the  water  is  clearly  shown.     It  should  be 
noticed  that  there  was  no  lar'onkwm.     It  is  possible  that  one 
of  the  waiting-rooms  for  men  (2^)  may  have  been  used  as  an 
unctoriim.     The   ruins   show    that   the   rooms   were    most 
artistically  decorated  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
were  luxuriously  furnished.     The  colonnades  and  the  large 
waiting-rooms  gave    ample  space  for  the  lounge  after  the 
bath,  which  the  Roman  prized  so  highly. 
378       Baths  of  Diocletian.— The  irregularity  of  plan  and  the 
waste  of  space  in  the  Pompeian  thermae  just  described  are 
due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  rebuilt  at  various  times  with  all 
sorts  of  alterations  and  additions.     Nothing  can   be  more 
symmetrical  than  the  thermae  of  the  later  emperors,  as  a  type 
oi  which  is  shown  in  Fig.   17(i  the  plan  of  the   Baths   of 
Diocletian,  dedicated  in  305  a.d.     They  lay  on  the  east  side 
of  the  city  and  were  the  largest  and  with  the  exception  of 
those  of  Caracalla  the  most  magnificent  of  the  Roman  bat  lis. 
The  plan  shows  the  arrangement  of  the  main  rooms,  all  m 
the  line  of  the  minor  axis  of  the  building;  the  uncovered 
piscina  (1),  the  apodijt'erium  mdfrl(jiddriini>  {-i),  combined 
as  in  the  women's  baths  at  Pompeii,  the  tepiddrixni  (3),  and 
the  rahldritni)  (4)  projecting  beyond  the  other  rooms  for  the 
sake  of  the  sunshine.     The  uses  of  the  surrounding  halls 


and  courts  can  not  now  be  determined,  but  it  is  clear  from 
the  plan  that  nothing  was  omitted  known  to  the  luxury  of 
the  time.  An  idea  of  the  magnificence  of  the  central  room 
may  be  had  from  Fig.  1(10  (!<3(io),  showing  the  correspond- 


ing room  in  the  Baths  of  Caracalla. 


FiGi'KE  17H.    Baths  of  Diocletian 


TRAVEL  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.   BOOKS 


279 


CHAPTER  X 
TRAVEL  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.     BOOKS 

references:  Marquardt,  469-474,  731-738,  799-833;  Voi^.t,  359  f . ;  Goll,  II,  418- 
462,  III,  l-4o;  Guhl  and  Koner,  538-544,  766  f.,  783  f . ;  Friedlaiider,  II,  36-291; 
Ramsay,  76-78,512-516;  Pauly-Wissowa,  carpentimi,  cisiut/i,  charta.  Brief,  Buck, 
Buchhandlurifj,  Bibliotheken;  Smith,  Harper,  Rich,  Lubker,  viae,  tabulae,  liber, 
bibliothfca,  and  other  Latin  words  in  text;  Baumeister,  2079  f.,  354,  361-364; 
Bliimner,  I,  308-327;  Johnston,  Latin  Manuscripts,  13-21,  27-34,  36. 

379  For  our  knowledge  of  the  means  of  traveling  employed 
by  the  Ronuins  we  have  to  rely  upon  indirect  sources  (gl*2), 
because  if  any  volumes  of  travel  w^ere  ever  written  they  have 
not  come  downi  to  us.  We  know,  however,  that  while  no 
distance  was  too  great  to  be  traversed,  no  hardships  too 
severe  to  be  surmounted,  for  the  sake  of  fame  or  fortune,  the 
Roman  cared  nothing  for  traveling  in  itself,  for  the  mere 
pleasure,  that  is,  of  sight-seeing.  This  was  partly  due  to 
his  blindness  to  the  charms  of  nature,  more  perhaps  to  his 
^  feeling  that  to  be  out  of  Kome  was  to  be  forgotten.  He 
made  once  in  his  life  the  grand  tour  (§110),  he  spent  a  year 
abroad  in  the  train  of  some  general  or  governor  (gllS),  but 
'  this  done,  only  the  most  urgent  private  aifairs  or  public 
duties  could  draw  him  from  Italy.  And  Italy  was  to  him 
only  Rome  and  his  country  estates  (§145).  These  he  visited 
when  the  hot  months  had  closed  the  courts  and  adjourned 
the  senate,  roaming  restlessly  from  one  to  another,  impatient 
for  his  real  life  to  begin  agnin.  Even  w^hen  public  or 
private  l)usiness  called  him  from  Rome,  he  kept  in  touch 
with  affairs  by  correspondence,  expecting  his  friends  to  write 
him  voluminous  letters,  ready  himself  to  return  the  favor 
when  positions  should  be  reversed.  So,  too,  the  proconsul 
kept  as  near  to  Rome  as  the  boundaries  of  his  province 
V    would  permit;  almost  all  the  uprisings  in  farther  Gaul  w^ere 

278 


due  to  Caesar's  habit  of  hurrying  off  to  Italy  as  soon  as 
winter  had  put  an  end  to  active  operations  in  the  field. 

By  Water. — The  means  of  travel  were  the  same  as  our  380 
ancestors  used  a  century  ago.  By  w^ater  the  Roman  used 
sailing  vessels,  rarely  canal  boats;  by  land  vehicles  drawn  by 
horses  or  mules,  for  short  distances  sedan  chairs  or  litters. 
There  w^ere,  however,  no  transportation  companies,  no  lines 
of  boats  or  vehicles,  that  is,  running  between  certain  places 
and  prepared  to  carry  passengers  at  a  fixed  price  on  a  regular 
schedule.  The  traveler  by  sea  wliose  means  did  not  permit  ^ 
him  to  buy  or  charter  a  vessel  for  his  exclusive  use  had/ 
therefore  to  wait  at  the  port  until  he  found  a  l)oat  going  in 
the  desired  direction  and  then  make  such  terms  as  he  could 
for  his  passage.  And  there  were  other  inconveniences. 
The  boats  were  small,  and  this  made  them  uncomfortable  in 
roudi  weather;  the  lack  of  the  compass  caused  them  to 
follow  the  coast  as  much  as  possible,  and  this  often  increased 
the  distance;  in  winter  navigation  was  usually  suspended. 
Traveling  by  water  was,  therefore,  avoided  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. Rather  than  sail  to  Athens  from  Ostia  or  Xaples,  for 
example,  the  traveler  would  go  by  land  to  P>rundisium,  by 
sea  across  to  Dyrrachium,  and  continne  the  journey  by  land. 
Between  Bruiuiisium  and  Dyrrachium  boats  were  constantly  y 
l)assing,  and  the  only  delay  to  be  feared  was  that  caused  by 
bad  weather,  'ilie  short  voyage,  only  100  miles,  was  usually 
made  within  twenty-four  hours. 

By  Land.— The  Roman  who  traveled  by  land  Avas  dis-381 
tinctly  better  off  than  Americans  of  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. His  inns  were  not  so  good,  it  is  true,  but  his  vehicles  ^ 
and  cattle  were  fully  equal  to  theirs,  and  hi^,  roads  were  the 
best  that  have  ever  been  bnilt.  Horseback  riding  was  not  a 
recognized  mode  of  traveling  (the  Romans  had  no  saddles), 
but  there  were  vehicles  with  two  wlieels  and  with  four,  for 
one  horse  and  for  two  or  more,  covered  and  uncovered. 
These  were  kept  for  hire  near  the  gates  of  all  important 


i/ 


A   "L 


/( 


280 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


TRAVEL    AND    CORHESPONDENC^E.        DOOKS 


281 


towns,  but  the  price  is  not  known.  To  save  the  troiil)le  of 
lociding  and  unloading  the  baggage  it  is  probable  that 
persons  going  great  distances  took  their  own  vehicles  and 
merely  hired  fresh  horses  from  time  to  time.  There  were, 
however,  no  postroutes,  and  no  places  where  horses  were 
changed  at  the  end  of  regular  stages  for  ordinary  travelers, 
though  there  were  such  arrangements  for  couriers  and 
otKcers  of  the  government,  especially  in  the  provinces.  For 
short  journeys  and  when  haste  Avas  not  necessary  travelers 
Avould  naturally  use  their  own  horses  as  well  as  their  own 
carriages.  Of  the  pomp  that  often  accompanied  such 
journeys  something  has  been  said  in  §152. 
382  The  Vehicles. — The  streets  of  Eome  w^ere  so  narrow  (the 
^  widest  not  over  twenty-five  feet,  the  average  about  fourteen) 
that  wagons  and  carriages  were  not  allowed  upon  them  at 
hours  when  they  were  likely  to  be  thronged  with  people. 
V Throughout  tlie  Republic  and  for  at  least  tw^o  centuries  after- 
Avards  the  streets  were  closed  to  all  veliicles  during  the  first 
ten  hours  of  the  day,  with  the  exception  of  four  classes  only: 
market  wagons,  which  brought  produce  into  the  city  by 
night  and  were  allowed  to  leave  empty  the  next  morning, 
transfer  wagons  {])Iausir(i)  conveying  material  for  pul)lic 
buildings,  the  carriages  used  by  the  Vestals,  //^//y^/y^t'.v,  and  rej' 
mcroruni  in  their  priestly  functions,  and  the  chariots  driven 
in  the  pompa  rirrensis  (S'34:))  and  in  the  triumphal  pro- 
cessions. Similar  regulations  were  in  force  in  almost  all  the 
Italian  towns.  This  made  general  the  use  within  the  walls 
of  the  Jedlcu  and  its  bearers  (glol).  Besides  the  litter  in 
J  which  the  passenger  reclined  a  sedan  chair  was  common  in 
wliich  he  sat  erect.  Both  were  covered  and  curtained.  Tlie 
Irrflra  was  sometimes  used  for  short  journeys,  and  in 
place  of  the  six  or  eight  bearers,  mules  were  sometimes 
put  between  the  shafts,  one  before  and  one  behind,  but 
not  until  late  in  the  Empire.  Such  a  litter  was  called  a 
//(fs/rr/fa. 


FlGUKK  177.     CAKI'HNTUM 


Carriages.— The  monuments  show  us  rude  represen-383 
tations  of  several  kind,  of  vehicles  and  the  names  of  at  least 
eight  have  come  down  to  us, 
but  we  are  not  able  positively 
to  connect  the  figures  and 
the  names,  and  have,  there- 
fore, very  general  notions 
onlv  of  the  form  and  con- 
st ruction  of  even  the  most 
common.  Some  seem  to  have 
been  of  ancient  design  and 

retained  merely  for  use  as  state  carriages  in  the  processions 
that  have  been  mentioned.  Such  were  the  jnle/iiu/u  and  the 
carpcntum,  the  former  with  four  wheels,  the  latter  with 
two,  both  covered,  both  drawn  by  two  horses,  both  used  by 
the  Vestals  and  priests,  ^rhe  carpnifuni  is  rarely  spoken  of 
as  a  traveling  carriage,  and  its  use  for  such  a  purpo>:e  was  a 
nuuk  of  luxury.  Livy  inakes  the  first  Tarquin  come  from 
Etruria  to  IJome  in  one,  and  it  is  generally  supposed  that 
one  is  shown  hi  an  Etruscan  painting  reproduced  here  in 
Eio-.  177.  The  petoritfdu  was  also  used  in  the  triumphal 
processions,  but  only  for  the  spoils  of  war.  It  was  essentially 
a  baggage  wagon  and  was  occupied  by  the  servants  in  a  trav- 
eler's train.  'J1ie  caruca  was  a  luxurious  traveling  van,  of 
which  we  hear  first  in  the  late  Empire.  It  was  furnished  with 
a  bed  on  which  tlie  traveler  reclined  by  day  and  slept  by  night. 

The  Reda  and  Cisium.— The  usual  traveling  vehicles,  384 
however,  were  the  reda  and  the  risinni.  The  former  was 
large  and  heavy,  covered,  had  four  wheels,  and  was  drawn  by 
two  or  four  horses.  It  was  regularly  used  by  persons 
accompanied  by  their  families  or  having  baggage  with  them, 
and  was  kept  for  hire  for  this  purpose.  For  rapid  journeys, 
when  a  man  had  no  traveling  companions  and  little  baggage, 
the  two-wheeled  and  uncovered  cisiin/f  was  the  favorite 
vehicle.     It  was  drawn  by  two  horses,  one  between  shafts 


/ 


/ 


282 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    KOMAXS 


TRAVEL    AND    CORRESPONDENCE.      BOOKS  283 


Figure  178.    Cisium 


and  the  other  attached  by  traces;  it  is  possible  that  three 
were  sometimes  used.     The  cisium  had  a  single  seat,  broad 

enough  to  accommodate  a  driver 
also.  It  is  very  likely  that  the 
cart  on  a  monument  found  near 
Trieves  (Fig.  178)  is  a  cisiitii}^ 
but  the  identification  is  not 
absolutely  certain.  Cicero 
speaks  of  these  carts  making 
fifty-six  miles  in  ten  hours, 
probably  with  one  or  more  changes  of  horses.  Other 
vehicles  of  the  cart  type  that  came  into  use  during  the 
Empire  were  the  essedum  and  the  covlmcs,  but  we  do  not 
know  how  they  differed  from  the  cisium.  These  carts  had 
no  springs,  but  the  traveler  took  care  to  have  plenty  of 
cushions.  It  is  worth  noticing  that  none  of  the  vehicles 
mentioned  has  a  Latin  name,  all  being  Gallic  with  perhaps 
one  exception  {pllenfum).  In  like  manner  most  of  our 
own  carriages  have  foreign  names. 
385  The  Roads. — The  engineering 
skill  of  the  liomans  and  the 
lavish  outlay  of  money  made 
their  roads  the  best  that  the 
world  has  ever  known.  They 
I  w  ve  strictly  military  w^orks,  built 
for  strategic  purposes,  intended 
to  facilitate  the  despatching  of 
supplies  to  the  frontier  and  the 
massing  of  troops  in  the  shortest 
possible  time.  Beginning  with 
the  first  important  acquisition  of 
territory  in  Italy  (the  ria  Appia 
^  was  built  in  312  B.C.)  they  kept 
pace  with  the  expansion  of  the  Iiepublic  and  the  Empire. 
In  Italy  they  were  built  at  the  cost  of  the  state,  in  the  prov- 


Fkutrk  179. 
KoAD  Cut  thkotgh  Hill. 


I 


Figure  180.    Bridge  over  Stream 


inces  the  conquered  communities  bore  the  expense  of  con- 
struction and  maintenance,  but  the  work  was  done  under 
the  direction  of  Ro- 
man engineers  and      Fr^ 
often  by  the  legions 
between  campaigns. 
They  ran  in  straight 
lines    between    the 
towns  they  were  to 
connect,   with   fre- 
quent   crossroads 
and    branch    roads 
only  less   carefully 

constructed.    No  natural  obstacles  were  permitted  to  change 
their  course.     The  grade  was  always  easy,  hills  being  cut 
through  (Fig.  170),  gorges  and  rivers  crossed  on  arches  of       , 
solid  stone  (Fig.  180),  and  valleys  and  marshes  spanned  by 
viaducts  of  the  same  material  (Fig.  181). 

Their  surface  was  perfectly  smooth  and  carefully  rounded  386 
ofE  and  there  were  gutters  at  the  sides  to  carry  off  the  rain 
and  melted  snow.     Eegard  was  had  for  the  comfort  of  all 
classes  of  travelers.     Milestones  showed  the  distance  from 
the  starting  point  of  the  road  and  often  that  to  important 

places  in  the  oppo- 
site direction,  as 
well  as  the  names 
of  the  consuls  or 
emperors  under 
whom  the  roads 
were  built  (Fig. 
182).  The  road- 
bed was  wide 
enough   to   permit 


Figure  181.    Viaduct  ovkr  Marsh 


the   meeting  and   passing   of   the  largest   wagons  without 
trouble.     For  the  pedestrian  there  was  a  footpath  on  either 


t 


284. 


THK    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


TRAVEL    AM)    CORRESPONDENCE.       BOOKS 


285 


side  with  frequent  stepping  stones  so  he  might  cross  to  the 
other  side  above  the  mud  or  dust  of  the  wagon  way,  and  seats 

for  him  to  rest  upon  were  often  built  by  the 
milestones.  The  horseman  found  blocks  of 
stone  set  here  and  there  for  his  convenience 


CAhX  ILI  •  Q 

Met  EL  •  cos 
CXIX 
Eg  MA  ^ 


F 


/ 


Fkhke  182. 
Milestone 


in  mounting  and  dis- 
mounting. Where  springs 
were  discovered  wayside 
fountains  for  men  and 
watering-troughs  for  cat- 
tle were  constructed.  Such  roads  often  went 
a  hundred  years  witliout  repairs,  and  some  por- 
tions of  them  have  endured  the  trailic  of  cen- 
turies and  are  still  in  good  condition  to-day. 
387  Construction. — Our  knowledge  of  the  construction  of  the 
military  roads  is  derived  from  a  treatise  of  Mtruvius  on 
pavements  and  from  existing  remains  of  the  roads  them- 
selves. The  Latin  phrase  for  buiUling  a  road  {mil  n't  re  viain) 
epitomizes  the  process  exactly,  for  througliout  its  full 
length,  whether  car- 
ried above  the  level 


■1^^:;=^ 


~^—^ — r 


TTrrrrj. 


"''   ■'.  .^-^-^  --'  »^-^ 


of  the  surrounding 
country  (Fig.  IS*^) 
or  in  a  cut  below  it, 
the  r()::d  was  a  solid 
wall  averaging  fif- 
teen feet  in  width 
and  perhaps  three 
feet  in  height.  Hie 
method  followed  will  be  easily  understood  from  Fig.  18-1.  A 
cut  {fossn)  was  first  made  of  the  width  of  the  intended  road 
and  of  a  depth  sufficient  to  hold  the  filling   which   varied 

^Inscription  on  a  milestone  of  the  ina  SaJaria.  "Erected  by 
the  consul  (117  B.  c.)  Luoius  Caecilius  Metellus,  etc.  (§39).  One 
liuiulred  and  nineteen  (miles)  from  Rome.'' 


Figure  183.    Embaxkmknt  and  Cross-section 


A 
B 

c- 

D- 
E 


"A 
■B 
G 
D 


FlOrUK   184.      CONSTIUTCTION    OF    RoAI> 


with  the  nature  of  the  soil.     The  earth   at  the  bottom  of 
the  cut   (E)   was  leveled   and   made  solid    with  heavy  ram- 
mers (S-l'O-     Upon    this  was  spread   the    stainmeit   (D),   a 
foundation  course  of  stones  not  too  large  to  be  held  in  the 
hand,  the  thickness  of 
tlie  laver  varying  witli 
\  the  porosity  of  the  soil. 
Over    this    came    the 
rudux  (C),  a  nine-inch 
laver  of  coarse  concrete 
or  nibble  (g-HO)  made 
of  ])rokeii  atones  and  lime.  Over  this  was  laid  the  niideio^  (H), 
ii  six-inch  bedding  of  lino  concrete  made  of  broken  potsherds 
and  lime,  in  which  was   set  the  final  conrse  (A)  of  blocks  ot 
lava  or  of  other  hard  sione  furnished  by  the  adjacent  country 
This  hist  course  {dor>^um)  made  the  roadway  {agger  vuu) 
and  was  laid  with   the  greatest  care  so  as  to  leave  no  seams 
or  fissures  to  admit  water  or  to  jar  the  wheels  of  vehicles. 
In  the  diagram  the  stones  are  represented  with  the  lower 
surface  flat,  but  they  were  commonly  cut  to  a  point  or  edge, 
as   in   Fi<r     is:),   in   order   to  be  held    more  firmly  by   the 
,mc/.».v/ The  .rwrr  was  bounded  on  the  sides  hyu^M. 
(G  (i),  curbstones,  behind  which  hiy  the  footpaths  (>,h), 
,emitae  or  numiiue..     On  a  subsoil  of  rocky  character  the 
foundation  course  or  even  the  first  and  second  courses  might 
be   unnecessary.     On    the  loss   traveled   branch    roads   the 
a<,ger  seems  to  have  consisted  of  a  thick  course  of  gravel 
(qhlrea),  well  rounded  and  compacted,  instead  ot  the  blocks 
of  stone,  and  the  crossroads  may  have  been  of  still  cheaper 

materials. 

The  Inns.— There  were  numerous   lodging  houses  and  388 

restaurants  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  of  Italy,  but  all  of  the 

meanest    character.      Respectable   travelers   avoided    them 

scrupulously,  either  possessing  stopping  places  of  their  own 

{<nurr.oru,)  on  roads  that  they  used  frequently,  or  claiming 


f^y 


286 


THE    PRIVATP:    life    of    the    ROMANS 


TRAVEL    AND    CORRESPONDENCE.       BOOKS 


287 


k 


Tzrzza     vw}w.'f'.'>nf/v»^\ 


a 


Figure  185. 
Plan  op  Ixn 


entertainment  from  friends  {^'dO:])anc\Jiosj)ites  (§184),  whom 
they  would  be  sure  to  have  everywhere.  Nothing  but  acci- 
dent, stress  of  weather,  or  unusual  haste  could  drive  them 
to   places    of    public    entertainment    {fabernae   decei\wriae, 

cayponac).  The  guests  of  such  places 
were,  therefore,  of  the  lowest  class,  and 
innkeepers  {raffpoHes)  and  inns  bore  the 
most  unsavory  reputations.  Food  and  beds 
w^ere  furnished  the  travelers,  and  their 
cattle  were  accommodated  under  the  same 
roof  and  in  unpleasant  proximity.  The 
phm  of  an  inn  at  Pompeii  (Fig.  185)  may 
be  taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  all  such 
houses.  The  entrance  {a)  is  broad  enough 
to  admit  wagons  into  the  wagon-room 
(/),  behind  which  is  the  stable  {k).  In 
one  corner  is  a  watering- trough  (/),  in 
another  a  latnna  (/).  On  either  side  of  the  entrance  is  a 
wineroom  {b,  d),  with  the  room  of  the  proprietor  (6-)  opening 
off  one  of  them.  The  small  rooms  (c,  g,  h)  are  bedrooms, 
*and  others  in  the  second  story  over  tlie  wagon-room  w^ere 
reached  by  the  back  stairway.  The  front  stairway  has  an 
entrance  of  its  own  from  the  street  and  the  rooms  reached 
by  it  had  probably  no  connection  with  the  inn.  P>ehind  this 
stairway  on  the  lower  floor  was  a  fireplace  {in)  with  a  water 
heater.  An  idea  of  the  moderate  prices  charged  in  such 
places  may  be  had  from  a  bill  which  has  come  down  to  us  in 
an  inscription  preserved  in  the  museum  at  Naples :  a  pint  of 
wine  with  bread,  one  cent;  other  food,  two  cents;  hay  for  a 
mule,  tw^o  cents.  The  corners  of  streets  were  the  favorite 
sites  for  inns,  and  they  had  signs  (the  elephant,  the  eagle, 
etc.)  like  those  of  much  later  times. 
389  Speed. — The  lack  of  public  conveyances  runm'ng  on  regu- 
lar schedules  (§380)  makes  it  impossible  to  tell  the  speed 
ordinarily  made  by  travelers.     It  depended  upon  the  total 


\ 


distance  to  be  covered,  the  degree  of  comfort  demanded  by 
the  traveler,  the  urgency  of  his  business,  and  the  facilities         / 
at  his  command.     Cicero  speaks  of  fifty-six  miles  in  ten       ^ 
hours  by   cart   (§384)   as   something  unusual,  but  on  such 
roads  it  ought  to  have  been  possible  to  go  much  faster,  if 
fresh   horses   were  provided   at  the    proper   distances,    and 
if  the  traveler  could  stand  the  fatigue.      The  sending  of 
letters  gives  the  best  standard  of  comparison.     There  was 
no  pubhc  postal  service,  but  every  Roman  of  position  had 
among    his    slaves    special    messengers    {tabelldrii) ,    wdiose 
business  it  was  to  deliver  important  letters  for  him.     They 
covered  from  twenty-six  to  twenty-seven  miles  on  foot  in  a 
day,  and  from  forty  to  fifty  in  carts.     We  know  that  letters  J 
were  sent  from  Rome  to  Brundisium,  370  Roman  miles,  in 
six  days,  and  on  to  Athens  in  fifteen  more.     A  letter  from 
Sicily  Avould  reach  Rome  on  the  seventh  day,  from  Africa  on 
the  twenty-first  day,  from  Britain  on  the  thirty-third  day, 
and  from  Syria  on  the  fiftieth  day.     In  the  time  of  Wash- 
ington it  \vas  no  unusual  thing  for  a  letter  to  take  a  month 
to  go  from  the  eastern  to  the  southern  states  in  winter. 

Sending  Letters.— For  long  distances,  especially  over  390 
seas,  sending  letters  by  special  messengers  was  very  expen- 
sive, and,  except  for  the  most  urgent  matters,  recourse  was 
had  to  traders  and  travelers  going  in  the  desired  direction. 
Persons  sending  messengers  or  intending  to  travel  them- 
selves made  it  a  point  of  honor  to  notify  their  friends  in 
time  for  letters  to  be  prepared  and  also  carried  letters  for 
entire  strangers,  if  requested  to  do  so.  There  was  great 
danger,  of  course,  that  letters  sent  in  this  way  might  fall 
into  the  wrong  hands  or  be  lost.  It  was  customary,  there- 
fore, to  send  a  copy  of  an  important  letter  {lUterae  eddem 
exemj)ld,  I'tnd  exemplo),  or  at  least  an  abstract  of  its  contents, 
by  another  person  and  if  possible  by  a  different  route.  It 
was  also  customary  to  disguise  the  meaning  by  the  use  of 
fictitious  names  known  to  the  correspondents  only  or  by  the 


K 


288 


TllK    rRlVATK    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS^ 


TRAVEL    AND    CORRESPONDENCE.       BOOKS 


289 


emi)lovnuMit  of  reguhir  ryplier  codes.  Suetonius  tells  us 
that  Caesar  simply  substituted  for  each  letter  the  one  that 
stood  three  places  lower  in  the  alphabet:  D  for  A,  E  for  P>, 
etc.,    but    really    elaborate    and    intricate    systems    were    in 

connnon  use. 
391        Writing    the    Letter.  —  The    extensive    correspondence 
carried  on  by  every  Roman  of  position  (§371))  made  it  impos- 
sible for  him  to  write  any  but  the  most   important  of  his 
letters  or  those  to  his  dearest  friends   with  his  own  haiul. 


FiouRK  18<"».    dnmiLiA 


The  place  of  the  stenographer- and  writing  machine  of  to-day 
was  taken  by  slaves  or  freedmen,  often  highly  educated 
(;;154),  who  wrote  at  his  dictati(jn.  Such  slaves  were  called 
in  general  terms  lihnlril,  more  accurately  servl  ah  ejji^tolls^ 
fiercl  (1  n/ani'f,  or  dmaHUcnsex.  Kotes  and  short  letters  were 
written  on  tablets  {fabeUae,  Fig.  '24,  §110)  of  firwood  or 
ivorv  of  various  sizes,  often  fastened  together  in  sets  of  two 
or  more  by  wire  hinges  {rodiriUl^  piff/iUdres,  Fig.  180). 
The  inner  faces  were  slightly  hollowed  out  and   the  depres- 


sion was  nearly  filled  with  wax,  so  as  to  leave  merely  a  raised 
rim  about  the' edges,  much  like  the  frame  of  an  old-fashioned 
slate.     Upon  the  wax  the  letters  were  traced  with  an  ivory 
or  metal  tool  (.s7//?/.s  ijrupliium)  with  one  end  pointed,  like  a 
pencil,  for  writing,  and  the  other  made  broad  and  flat,  like  a 
paper  cutter,   for  smoothing  the  wax  (Fig.  18T). 
With  the  flat  end  mistakes  could  be  corrected  or 
the  whole  letter  erased  and  the  tablets  used  again, 
often  for  the  reply  to  the  letter  itself.    For  longer 
communications  the  Romatis  used  a  coarse  paper 
{papT/nis),  the  making  of  which  will  be  described 
below.     Upon   it  they  wrote  with  pens  made  of 
split  reeds  and   with  a  thick    ink  made  of  soot 
(lampblack)  mixed  with  resinous  gums.     Paper, 
pens,  and  ink   were  so  poor  that  the  bulky  and 
awkward  tablets   were  used  by  preference  for  all 
but    the   longest    letters.      Parchment    did   not 
come   into  general  use  until  the  fourth  or  fifth 
century  of  our  era. 

Sealing  and  Opening  the  Letters.— For  sealing 
the  letter  thread  {Ujium),  wax  {rera),  and  a  seal 
{sujuiim)    were   necessary.     The  seal  (§255)  not 
only  secured  the  letter  against  improper  inspec- 
tion, but  also  attested  the  genuineness  of  those 
written  by  the  Uhrarn,  as  autograph  signatures 
seem  not  to  have  been  thought  of.     The  tablets 
having  been  put  together  face  to  face  witli  the 
writing  on  the  inside,  the  thread  was  passed  around  them 
and  through  small  holes  bored  through  them,  and  was  then 
securely  tied.     Upon  the  knot  softened  wax  was  dropped 
and  to  this  the  seal  was  applied.     Letters  written  on  sheets 
of  paper  {srhedae)  were  rolled  longitudinally  and  then  secured 
in  the  same  way.     On  the  outside  was  written  the  name  of 
the  person  addressed  with  perhaps  the  phice  wliere  he  was  to 
be  found  if  the  letter  was  not  sent  by  a  special  messenger. 


Fl«URKl»7. 

Bron'zk 
Stilus 


392 


I 


290 


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TKAVfiL    AND    OORRERPONDENOE.       BOOKS 


291 


AVhen  the  letter  was  opened  care  was  taken  not  to  break  the 
seal,  the  cutting  of  the  thread  giving  access  to  the  contents. 
If  the  letter  was  preserved  the  seal  was  kept  attached  to  it 
in  order  to  attest  its  authenticity.  Cicero  describes  the  open- 
ing  of  a  letter  in  the  tenth  paragraph  of  the  Third  Oration 

against  Catiline. 
393  Books.— Almost  all  the  materials  used  by  the  ancients  to 
receive  writing  were  known  to  the  Komans  and  used  by 
them  for  one  purpose  or  another,  at  one  time  or  another. 
For  the  publication  of  works  of  literature,  however,  during 
the  period  when  the  great  classics  were  produced,  the  only 


FiuuKE  188.    Fragment  of  Papyrus  Roll  from  Herculankum 

material  was  paper  {papyrus),  the  only  form  the  roll 
(roli'tmen).  The  book  of  modern  form  {rodex),  written  on 
parchment  {membra mini),  played  an  important  part  in  the 
preservation  of  the  literature  of  Home,  but  did  not  come 
into  use  for  the  purpose  of  publication  until  long  after  the 
canon  of  the  classics  had  been  completed  and  the  great 
masters  had  passed  away.  The  Romans  adopted  the  papyrus 
roll  from  the  Greeks;  the  Greeks  had  received  it  from  the 
Egyptians.  When  the  Egyptians  first  made  use  of  it  we  do 
not  know,  but  we  have  preserved  to  us  Egyptian  rolls  that 
were  written  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  years  before  the 
Christian  era.  The  oldest  Roman  books  of  this  sort  that 
have  been  preserved   were   found   in   llerculaneum,   badly 


charred  and  broken.  Those  that  have  been  deciphered 
contain  no  Latin  author  of  any  value.  A  specimen  of  the 
writing  on  one  of  these,  a  mere  fragment  by  an  unknown 
author,  is  shown  in  Fig.  1S8.  At  the  time  it  was  buried 
there  were  still  to  be  seen  rolls  in  the  handwriting  of  the 
Gracchi,  and  autographs  of  Cicero,  A^ergil,  and  Horace  must 
have  been  common  enough.      All   these  have  since  perished 

so  far  as  we  know. 

Manufacture  of  Paper.— The  papyrus  reed  had  a  jointed  394 
stem,  triangular  in  shape,  and  reached  a  maximum  height  of 
perhaps  fourteen  feet  with  a  thickness  of  four  or  five  inches. 
The  stem   contained  a  pith  of  which   the  paper  was  made 
by  a  process  substantially  as  follows:     The    stem  was  cut 
through  at  the  joints,  the  hard  rind  removed,  and  the  pith 
cut  into  thin  sections  or  strips  as  evenly  as  possible.     The 
first  cut  seems  to  have  been  made  from  one  of  the  angles  to 
the  middle  of  the  opposite  side,  and  the  others  parallel  with 
it  to   the  right  and  left.     The  strips  were   then    assorted 
according  to  width,  and  enough  of  them  were  arranged  side 
by  side  as  closely  as  possible  upon  a  board  to  make  their 
combined  width  almost  equal  to  the  length  of  the  single  strip. 
Across  these  was  laid  another  layer  at  right  angles,  with 
perhaps  a  coating  of  glue  or   paste   between   them.     The 
mat-like  sheet  that  resulted  was  then  soaked  in  water  and 
pressed  or  hammered  into  a  substance  not  unlike  our  paper, 
called  by  the  Romans  rharfa.     After  the  sheets    {scMdm) 
had  been  dried  and  bleached  in   the  sun,  they  were  rid  by 
scraping  of  rough  places  and  trimmed  into  uniform  sizes, 
depending  upon  the  length  of  the  strips  of  pith.     The  fewer 
the  strips  that  composed  each  sheet,  or  in  other  words  the 
greater  the  width  of  each  strip,  the  closer  the  texture  of  the 
rharta  and   the  better  its  quality.     It  was  possible,  there- 
fore, to  grade  the  paper  by  its  size,  and  the  width  of  the 
sheet  rather  than  its  height  was  taken  as  the  standard.    The 
best  quality  seems  to  have  been  sold  in  sheets  about  ten 


292 


THK    PRIVATE    LIFE    OK    THE    ROMANS 


TRAVEi.    AND    CORRESPONDENCE.       BOOKS 


293 


I 


inches  wide,  the  poorest  thai  couhl  Ix'  used  lo  write  upon, 
ahout  six.  The  height  in  eaeli  ease  was  perhaps  one  inch  to 
two  inches  greater.  It  has  heen  cah'uhited  that  a  single 
papyrus  phuit  wouhl  nnike  about  twenty  sheets  of  the  size 
proportioned  to  its  height,  and  tliis  ninnher  seems  to  have 
been  made  the  commercial  unit  of  measure  (srdpys)^  ])y 
which  the  i)aper  was  sohl  in  the  market,  a  unit  correspond- 
ing roughly  to  our  quire. 
395  Pens  and  Ink.— Only  the  up[)er  surface  of  the  sheet  was 
commonly   written  upon,   the    one  formed    ])y  the  liorizon- 

tal  layer  of  strii)s,  and 
tliese  showing  even 
after  the  process  of 
manufacture  served  io 
guide  the  pen  of  the 
writer.  In  the  case  of 
books  where  it  was 
important  to  keep  the 
iujm])er  of  lines  con- 
stant to  tlie  page,  they 
were  ruled  with  a  cir- 
cular piece  of  lead. 
The  pen  [('((hutufs)  tvas 
made  of  a  reed  ])rought 
to  a  point  and  cleft 
much  as  our  quill  pens 
are.    For  the  black  ink 

was  occasionally  sub- 
stituted  the  liquid  of 
thecuttleli.sh.  lied  ink 
was  much  used  for 
headings,  ornaments, 
and  the  like,  and  in  pictures  the  inkstand  is  generally  rep- 
resented with  two   compartments  (Fig.  ISU).      The  ink  was 


FmUKK   l.ny.      INSTKI'MENTS   UsED   IN'   WRITIN<J 


more  like  paint  than  modern  ink,  and  could  be  wiped  off 
when  fresh  with  a  damp  sponge  ami  washed  off  even  when 
it  had  become  dry  and  hard.  To  wash  sheets  in  order  to 
use  them  a  second  time  was  a  mark  ot  poverty  or  niggardli- 
ness, but  the  reverse  side  of  srhcdae  that  had  served  their 
purpose  was  often  used  for  scratch  paper,  especially  in  the 

schools  (;J110). 

Making   the  Roll.— A   single   sheet   might   serve   for   a  396 
letter  or  other  brief  document,   but  for  literary  purposes 
many  sheets  would  be  required.     These  were  not  fastened 
side'  by  side  in  a  back,   as  are  the  separate  sheets  in  our 
books,  or  numbered  and  laid  loosely  together,  as  we  arrange 
them  in  our  letters  and  manuscripts,  but  after  the  writing 
was  done  they  were  glued  together  at  the  sides  (not  at  the 
tops)  into    a   long  unwieldy  strip,    with  the  lines  on  each 
sheet  running  parallel  with  the  length  of  the  strip,  and  with 
the  writing  on  each  sheet  forming  a  column  perpendicular 
to  the  length  of  the  strip.     On  each   side   of   the  sheet, 
therefore,  a  margin  was  left  as  the  writing  was  done,  and 
these  margins  overlapping  and  glued  together  made  a  thick 
blank  space,  a  double  thickness  of  paper,  between  every  two 
sheets  in  the  strip.     A^ery  broad  margins,  too,  were  left  at 
the  top  and  bottom,  where  the  paper  would  suffer  from  use  a 
great  deal  more  than  in  our  books.     When  the  sheets  had 
been  securely  fastened  together  in  the  proper  order  a  thin  slip 
of  wood   was  glued  to  the  left  (outer)  margin  of  the  first 
sheet,  and  a  second  slip  {ifufhiUcus)  to  the  right  (also  outer) 
margin  of  the  last  sheet,  much  as  a  wall  nuip  is  mounted 
to-day.     When  not  in  use  the  volume  was  kept  tightly  rolled 
about  the  nmhilicus,  and  hence  received  its  name  {colnnwn), 

A  roll  intended  for  permanent  preservation  was  finished  397 
with  the  greatest  care.     The  top  and  bottom  {fronles)  were 
trimmed  perfectly  smooth,  polished  with   pumice-stone,  and 
often  painted  black.     The  back  of  the  roll  was  rub])ed  with 
cedar  oil  to  defend  it  from  moths  and  mice.     To  the  ends  of 


294 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FiGUKK  190.     CAPSA 


the  umhilmis  were  added  knobs  {cornua),  soinetiiiies  gilded 
or  painted  a  bright  color.  The  first  sheet  would  be  used  for 
the  dedication,  if  there  was  one,  and  on  the  back  of  it  a  few 
words  were  frequently  written  giving  a  clue  to  the  contents 

of  the    roll;    sometimes  a    portrait    of    the 
author  graced  this   page.     In  many  books 
the  full  title  and  the  name  of  the  author 
were  written  only  at  the  end  of  the  roll  on 
the  last  sheet,  but  in  any  case  to  the  top  of 
this  sheet  was  glued  a  strip  of  parchment 
(titulus)   with   the  title  and  author's  name 
upon  it,  which  projected  above  the  edge  of  the  roll.     For 
every   roll  a    parchment    cover   was    made,    cylindrical    in 
form,  into  which  it  was  slipped  from  the  top,  the  titulus 
alone   being   visible.     If  a   work   was   divided   into   several 
volumes  (see  below),  the  rolls  were  put  together  in  a  bundle 
{fascis)  and  kept  in  a  wooden  box  {capsa^  scrlniiini)  like  a 
modern  hat  box.     When  the  cover  was  removed  the  titidl 
were  visible  and  the  roll  desired  could  be  taken  without  dis- 
turbing the  others   (Fig.  100).     The  rolls  were  kept  some- 
times in  cupboards  {armaria^  §231),  laid  lengthwise  on  the 
shelves  with  the  tltuU  to  the  front,  as  shown  in  the  figure  in 
the  next  paragraph. 
398        Size  of  the  Rolls. — When  a  volume  was  consulted  the  roll 
was  held  in  both  hands  and  unrolled  column  by  column  with 
the  right  hand,  while  with  the  left  the  reader  rolled  up  the 
part  he  was  done  with  on  the  slip  of  wood  fastened  to  the 
margin  of  the  first  sheet  (Fig.  191).     When  he  had  finished 
reading  he  rolled  it  back  upon  the  umhiUcus^  usually  hold- 
ing  it  under   the  chin  and  turning  the  cormia  with  both 
hands.      In  the  case  of  a  long  roll   this  turning  backward 
and  forward  took  much  time  and  patience  and  must  have 
sadly  soiled  and  damaged  the  roll  itself.     The  early  rolls 
were  always  long  and  heavy.     There  was  theoretically  no 
limit  to  the  number  of  sheets  that  might  be  glued  together. 


TRAVEL  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.   BOOKS 


295 


and  consequently  none  to  the  size  or  length  of  the  roll.  ^    It 
was  made  as  long  as  was  necessary  to  contain  the  given 
work.     In  ancient  Egypt  rolls  were  put  together  of  more 
than  fif iv  yards  in  length,  and  in  early  times  rolls  of  approx- 
imate  length  were  used  in   Greece  and  Rome.     From  the 
third  century  B.C.,  however, 
it  had  become  customary  to 
divide  works  of  great  length 
into  two  or  more  volumes,  the 
division  at  first  being  purely 
arbitrary  and  made  wherever 
it  was   convenient  to  end  the 
roll,  no  matter  how  much  the 
unity   of  thought  Avas  inter- 
rupted.    A  century  later  au- 
thors  had    begun   to    divide 
their  works  into  convenient 
parts,  each  part  having  a  unity 
of  its  own,  such  as  the  five 


Figure  191.    Reading  a  Roll 


01    US    own,    &UU11    ti^    ^— ,        ..  ,1  I     ^^ 

"books"  of  Cicero's  De  Fluibus,  and  to  eacli  ot  these  parts  or 
"books"  Avas  given  a  separate  roll.     An  innovation  so  conve- 
nient and  sensible  quickly  became  the  universal  rule.     It  even 
worked  backward,    some  ancient  works  beu.g  divided  into 
books,  which  had  not  been  so  divided  by  their  authors,  e.g., 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and  Kaevius.    About  the  same  time 
too,  it  became  the  custom  to  put  the  sheets  upon  the  market 
already  glued  together,  to  the  amount  at  least  of  the  scajms 
(S304).     It  was,  of  course,  much  easier  to  glue  two  or  three 
of  these  together,  or  to  cut  off  the  unused  part  of  one,  than 
to  work  with  the  separate  sheets.     The  ready-niade  rolls, 
moreover,  were  put  together  in  a  most  workinanlike  manner 
Even  sheets  of  the  same  quality  (§304)  would  vary  slightly 
iu  toughness  or  finish,  and  the  manufacturei;s  of    the  roll 

..■f„i  +n  -nnt  the  very  best  sheets  at  the  beginning, 
were  caretul  to  put,  tnc  \cij   >j^.o  „  ^.^,„  ^,.a 

where  the  wear  was  the  most  severe,  and  to  keep  for  the  end 


296 


THE    I'KIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    KUMANS 


the  lc8S  perfect   sheets,  wliich   iiiiglit   sometimes  be  cut  oif 
altogether. 
399        Multiplication  of  Books. — Tlie  process  of  i)ul)li>hing  the 
largest  book  at  Rome  differed  in  no  important  respect  from 
that  of  writing  the  shortest  letter.     Every  co})y  was  made  by 
itself,  the  hundredth  or  tlie  thousandth  taking  just  as  much 
time  and  labor  as  the  first  had  done.     The  author's  copy 
would  be  distributed  among  a  number  of  lihrdril^  his  own,  if 
he  were  a  man  of  wealth,  a  Caesar  or  a  Sallust,  his  patron's, 
if  he  were  a  poor  man,  a  Terence  or  a  A^ergil.     Each  of  tlie 
Ubrdri'i  w^ould  write  and  rewrite  the  portions  assigned   to 
him,  until  the  required  number  of  copies  had  been  made. 
The  sheets  would  then  be  arranged  in  the  proper  order  and 
the  rolls  mounted  as  has  been  described.     Finally  the  books 
had  to  be  looked  through   to  correct  the  errors   that  were 
sure  to  be  made,  a   process  much   more  tedious  than  the 
modern  proofreading,  because  every  copy  had  to  be  corrected 
separately,  as  no  two  copies  would  show  precisely  the  same 
errors.     Books  made  in  this  Avav  were  almost  exclusivelv  for 
gifts,  though  friends  would  exchange  books  with  friends  and 
a  few  might  find  their  way  into  the  market.      Up  to  the  last 
century  of  the  Republic,  however,  there  was   no  organized 
book  trade,  and  no  such  thing  as  commercial  publication. 
When  a  man  wanted  a  book,  instead  of  buying  it  at  a  book- 
store he  borrowed  a  copy  from  a  friend  and  had  his  llhrdril 
make  him  as  many  more  as  he  desired.     In  this  way  Atticus 
made  for  himself  and  Cicero  copies  of  all  the   Greek  and 
Latin  books  on  which  he  could  lay  his  hands,  and  distribuUul 
Cicero's  own  writings  everywhere. 
400        Commercial  Publication. — The    publication    of    books   at 
Rome  as  a  business  beran  in  the  time  of  Cicero.     There  was 
no  copyright  law  and  no  protection  therefore  for  author  or 
publisher.     The   author's   pecuniary   returns   came    in    the 
form  of  gifts  or  grants  from  tliose  wliose   favor  he   liad  won 
by  his  genius;  the  jtublishcr  tiep^nded,  in  the  case  of  v.f^w 


TRAVKI,    AND    COKRESl'ONDENrK.      BOOKS  2'.)7 

books,  upon    meeting    the    demand   before  his  rivals   could 
market  their  editions,  and,  in  the  case  of  standard  books, 
upon  the  accuracy,  elegance,  and  cheapness  of  his  copies. 
Tlie  process  of  comiuercial  publication  was  essentially  the 
same  as  that  already  described,  except  that  larger  numbers 
of  mrarii  would  be  employed  and  the  copy  would  be  read 
to  all  at  once  to  save  them  the  trouble  of  handling  the 
awkward  roll  and  keeping  the  place  as  they  wrote,     'i'he  pub- 
lisher would  estimate  as  closely  as  possible  the  demand  for 
any  new  work  that  he  had  secured,  would   put   as  large  a 
number  of  scribes  upon  it  as  possible,  and  would  take  care 
that  no  copies  should  leave  his  establishment  until  his  whole 
edition  was  ready.     After  the  copies  were  once  on  sale  they 
could  be  reproduced  by  anyone.     The  best  houses  took  all 
possible  pains  to  have  their  books  free  from  errors,  having 
competent  correctors  to  read  them   copy  by  copy,  but  m 
spite  of  their  efforts  blunders  were  legion.     Authors  some- 
times corrected  with  their  own  hands  the  copies  intended  for 
tlieir  friends.     In   the  case  of  standard  works  purchasers 
often  hired  scholars  of  reputation  to  revise  their  copies  for 
them,   and  copies  of  known   excellence  were  borrowed    or 
hired  at  high  prices  for  tlio  purpose  of  comparison. 

Rapidity  and  Cost  of  Publication. -Cicero  tells  us  of  401 
Koman  senators  who  wrote  fast  enough  to  take  evidence 
verbatim,  and  the  trained  scribes  must  have  far  surpassed 
them  in  speed.  Martial  tells  us  that  his  second  book  could 
be  copied  in  an  hour.  It  contains  five  hundred  and  forty 
verses,  which  would  make  the  scribe  equal  to  nine  verses  to 
the  minute.  It  is  evident  that  a  small  edition,  no  larger, 
for  example,  than  twice  or  three  times  the  number  of  the 
scribes,  could  be  put  upon  the  market  more  quickly  than  it 
could  be  furnished  now.  The  cost  of  the  books  varied,  of 
course,  with  their  size  and  the  style  of  their  mounting. 
Martiars  first  book,  containing  eiglU  hundred  and  twenty 
lines  and  covering  twenty-nine  pages  in  Teubner's  text,  sold 


298 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


•  at  thirty  cents,  fifty  cents,  and  one  dollar;  his  Xeuia,  con- 
taining two  hundred  and  seventy-four  verses  and  covering 
fourteen  pages  in  Teubner's  text,  sold  at  twenty  cents,  but 
cost  the  publisher  less  than  ten.  Such  prices  would  hardly 
be  considered  excessive  now.  Much  would  depend  upon  the 
reputation  of  the  author  and  the  consequent  demand,  and 
high  prices  were  put  on  certain  books.  Autograj)!!  copies  — 
(Jellius  (f  about  180  a.d.)  says  that  one  by  Vergil  cost  the 
owner  8100 — and  copies  whose  correctness  was  vouclied  for 
by  some  recognized  authority  commanded  extraordinary 
prices. 
402  Libraries. — The  gathering  of  books  in  large  private  col- 
lections began  to  be  general  only  toward  the  end  of  the 
Republic.  Cicero  had  considerable  libraries  not  only  in  his 
house  at  Rome,  but  also  at  every  one  of  his  half-dozen 
country  seats.  Probably  the  bringing  to  Rome  of  whole 
libraries  from  the  East  and  Greece  by  LucuUus  and  Sulla 
started  the  fashion  of  collecting  books;  at  any  rate  collec- 
tions were  made  by  many  persons  Avho  knew  and  cared 
nothing  about  the  contents  of  the  rolls,  and  every  town 
house  had  its  library  (§200)  lined  with  volumes.  In  these 
libraries  were  often  displayed  busts  of  great  writers  and 
statues  of  the  Muses.  Public  libraries  date  from  the  time  of 
Augustus.  The  first  to  be  opened  in  Rome  was  founded  by 
Asinius  PoUio  (f  4  a.d.),  and  was  housed  in  the  Atrium 
Libert  at  is.  Augustus  himself  founded  two  others,  and  the 
number  was  brought  up  to  twenty-eight  by  his  successors. 
The  most  magnificent  of  these  was  the  BiblivthUca  Uljna^ 
founded  by  Trajan.  Smaller  cities  had  their  libraries,  too, 
and  even  the  little  town  of  Comum  boasted  one  founded  by 
the  younger  Pliny  and  supported  by  an  endowment  that 
produced  thirty  thousand  sesterces  annually.  The  public 
baths  often  had  libraries  and  reading-rooms  attached  (§')05). 


CHAPTER   XI 

SOURCES  OF  INCOME  AND  MEANS  OF  LIVING.      THE 

ROMAN'S  DAY 

It   is  evident  from  what  has  been  said   that  abundant  403 
means  were  necessary  to  support  the  state  in  which  every 
Roman  of  position  lived.     It  will  be  of  interest  to  see  how 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  also  earned  the  scan  ler  hvmg 
with  which  they  were  forced  to  be  content.     For  the  sake  of 
this  inquiry  it  will  be  convenient,  if  not  very  accurate,  to 
divide  the  people  of  Rome  into  the  three  gre.vt  classes  of 
nobles,  knights,  and  commons,  into  which  political  history 
has  di  tributed  them.     At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  there  was  no  hard  and  fixed  line  drawn  between 
any  two  of  these  classes;  a  noble  might  if  he  pleased  associ- 
ate  himself  with  the  knights,  provided  only  that  he  possessed 
the  required  sum  of  $20,000,  and  any  f  reeborn  citizen  might 
aspire  to  the  highest  offices  of  the  state,  ^^-vever  mean  the 
circumstances  of  his  birth,  however  poor  in  pocket  or  m 

"'trtr'of  *:  K«b.e..-T„e  noWes  i,>heHted  certain  «.  404 

the  aristocratic  notions  of  the  old  patriciate   wh.ch  hm^^^^^^ 
their  business  activities  and  had  much  to  ^  ^f^^^ 
ruption  of  public  life  in  the  last  century  of  the  Republic 
\len  in  their  position  were  held  to  be  above  all  manner  o 
wo  k,  with  the  hands  or  with  the  head,   for  the^  sake  of 
sordii  gain.     Agriculture  alone  was  free  from  debasing  asso- 
Iticias  it  ifa,  l>een  in  England  within  »" -"'■-; 
and  statecraft  and-  war  were  the  only  careers  t^t  to  engage 
their  energies.     Even  as  statesmen  and  generals,  too   they 
strTedTeir  fellow  citizens  without  material  reward,  for  no 

299 


800 


TIIK    PRIVATE     LIFK    OF    THE     ROMANS 


SOrRCES    OF    TXCOMR    ANT>    MEANS    OF    LTVINCx 


301 


salaries  were  drawn  by  the  senators,  none  were  attached  to 
the  magistracies  or  to  positions  of  military  command.  'J'his 
theory  had  worked  well  enough  in  the  time  before  the  Punic 
wars,  when  every  IJonian  was  a  farmer,  when  the  farm  pro- 
duced all  that  he  needed  for  his  simple  wants,  when  he  left 
it  only  to  serve  as  a  soldier  in  his  yonng  manhood  or  as  a 
senator  in  his  old  age,  and  returned  to  his  tields,  like  Ciu- 
cinnatns,  when  his  services  were  no  longer  reqnired  by  his 
country.  Under  tlie  aristocracy  that  supplanted  the  pure 
democracy  of  the  earlier  time,  it  snbverted  every  aim  that  it 
was  intended  to  secure. 

405  Agriculture. — The  farm  life  that  Cicero  has  described  so 
eloquently  and  praised  so  enthusiastically  in  his  Cnfo  Mdlor 
would  have  scarcelv  been  recognized  bv  Cato  himself  and 
had  become  a  memory  or  a  dream  long  before  Cicero  wrote. 
The  farmer  no  longer  tilled  his  fields,  even  with  the  help  of 
his  slaves.  The  yeoman  class  bad  practically  disappeared 
from  Italy.  The  small  holdings  had  been  absorbed  in  the 
vast  estates  of  the  wealthy  landowners,  and  the  aims  and 
methods  of  farming  had  wholly  changed.  Something  has 
been  said  of  this  already  (§140  f.),  and  it  will  be  sufficient 
here  to  recall  the  fact  that  grain  was  no  longer  raised  for  the 
market  in  Italy,  simply  because  the  market  could  be  supplied 
more  cheaply  from  over  seas.  The  gr:q)o  and  the  olive  luid 
become  the  chief  sources  of  wealth,  and  for  them  Sallust 
and  Horace  complain  that  less  and  less  space  was  l)eing  lift 
by  the  parks  and  pleasure  grounds  (§145).  Still,  the  making 
of  wine  and  oil  under  the  direction  of  a  careful  steward 
(gl4S)  must  have  been  very  profitable  in  Italy  and  many  of 
the  noljles  had  plantations  in  the  provinces  as  well,  the 
revenues  of  which  helped  to  maintain  their  state  at  Kome. 

406  Political  Office. — Politics  must  have  been  profitable  for 
those  only  who  played  the  game  to  the  end.  Ko  salaries 
were  attaciied  to  the  offices,  and  the  indirect  gains  from  one 
of  the  lower  would   hardly  pay  the    expenses   necessary    to 


secure  the  next  in  order.      The  gam  came  uUvavs  through 
positions   in    the   provinces.       The    cinaestorship    might  be 
„eut  in  one,  the  praetorship  a>nl  the  consulship  were  sure 
lo  be  followed  hy  a  year  abroad.     To  honest  n.en  the  places 
,ave  the  opportunity  to  learn  of  profitable  nivestmenls    and 
I  .ood  governor  was  often  selected  by  a  community  to^  look 
Xv  its  hiterests  in  the  capital,  and  this  nu.ant  an  hono- 
'lu-ium  in  the  form  of  valuable  presents  from  time  to  time 
C  cero^s  justice  and  moderation  as  quaestor  in  Sicily  earned 
him  a  rich  reward  when  he  came  to  prosecute  \  erres  for 
hindering  that  same  province,  and  when  he  was  m  charge 
^     t        g:^in   supply   during   his    aedileship.      To    corrui. 
officials   the    provinces    were    gold    nunes.      Kvery   sort   of 
robbery  and  extortion  was  practiced,  and  the  governor  was 
expected  to  enrich  not  merely  himself  but  also  the  coJ.or. 
(,i  IS)  that   had   accompanied  him.     Catullus  bitterly  com- 
ipuns   of   the   seltishness   of   Menunius,   who   had   kept   for 
hn   elf  all   tlie  plunder  of  Bithynia.     The  story  of  A  erres 
Zt  mul  in  any  history  of  Kome;  it  differs  from  that  of 
r  average  goven.or  only  in   the   fate  that   overtook   the 

^'^'^hriaw -Closelv  connected   with  tlie  political  career  407 
then  as  now  was  that  of  the  law,  but  Rome  km.v  of  no  cla^s 
of  professional  advocates  practicing  for  fees  and  living  upon 
the  r  practice.     Ami  tiiere  were  no  conditions  imposed  for 
acticing  in  the  courts,  not  even  the  good  moral  character 
th  is  Lsisted  upon  in  Indiana.     Anyone  cou  d  bring  suit 
^,  inst  anyone  else  on  any  charge  that  he  pleased,  and  it  was 
nolcommon  thing  for  a  young  politician  to  use  this  license 
:r  the  purpose  of  gaining  notoriety,  evei.  when  he  knew 
there  were  no  grounds  for  the  charges  he  brought.     On  the 
oh"        Id  th:  lawver  was  forbidden  to  accept  pay  for  his 
rX  s      lu  olden  times  the  client  had  of  his  right  gone  .o 
r;  tron   for  legal  advice  (^IT-.A,  and   ^l^^' '-ver  o    hUer 
tini   was   theoretically  at   least    at    the  service  of  all   who 


302 


thp:  private  life  of  the  Romans 


SOURCES    OF    INCOME    AND    MEANS    OF    LIVING 


303 


upplied  to  l]ini.  ifeii  of  the  highest  character  made  it  a 
})oiiu  of  honor  to  put  their  teclmical  knowledge  freely  at  the 
disposal  of  their  fellow  citizens.  At  the  same  time  the 
statutes  against  fees  were  easily  evaded.  Grateful  clients 
could  not  be  prevented  from  making  valuable  presents,  and 
it  was  a  very  common  thing  for  generous  legacies  to  be  left 
to  successful  advocates.  Cicero  had  no  other  source  of 
income,  so  far  as  we  know,  but  Avhile  he  was  never  a  rich 
man,  he  ownied  a  house  on  the  Palatine  {^2i'2,  note)  and  lialf 
a  dozen  country  seats,  lived  well,  and  spent  money  lavishly 
on  works  of  art  (§'^27)  that  appealed  to  his  tastes,  and  on 
books  (S-402).  Corrupt  judges  ( praefores)  could  fiud  other 
sources  of  income  then  as  now,  of  course,  but  we  hear  more 
of  this  in  relation  to  the  jurors  {ifulires)  than  the  judges, 
probably  because  with  a  province  before  him  the  praet07'^'n\ 
not  think  it  fitting  to  stoop  to  petty  bribetaking. 

408  The  Army. — The  spoils  of  war  went  nominally  into  the 
treasury  of  the  state.-  Practically  they  passed  first  through 
the  hands  of  the  commanding  general,  who  kept  what  he 
pleased  for  himself,  his  staff  (gll<S),  and  his  soldiers  and  sent 
the  rest  to  liome.  The  opportunities  were  magnificent,  and 
the  Roman  general  understood  how  to  use  them  all.  Some 
of  them  were  legitimate  enough  according  to  the  usages  of 

-w  the  time,  the  plunder  of  the  towns  and  cities  that  were 
taken,  the  ransom  exacted  from  those  that  were  spared,  the 
sale  of  captives  as  slaves  (^134).  Entirely  illegitimate,  of 
course,  w^ere  the  fortunes  made  by  furnishing  supplies  to  the 
army  at  extravagant  prices  or  diverting  these  supplies  to 
private  uses.  The  reconstruction  of  the  conquered  territory 
brought  in  returns  equally  rich;  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the 
Aedui  paid  Caesar  well  for  the  supremacy  in  central  Gaul 
that  he  assured  them  after  his  defeat  of  the  Helvetii.  The 
civil  wars  that  cost  the  best  blood  of  Italy  made  the  victors 
immensely  rich.  Besides  the  looting  of  the  public  treasury, 
the  estates  of  men  in   the  opposing  party  were  confiscated 


•nid  sold  to  the  highest  hUhUv.     The  proceeds  went  Jiomi- 
nally  to  the  treasury  of  the  new  government,  but  the  proceeds 
were  infinitesimal  in  comparison  with  the  protits.  After  bulla 
had  established  himself  in  Home  the  names  of  friends  and 
foes  alike  were  put  on  tlie  proscription  lists,  and  if  powerful 
influence  was  not  exerted  in  their  behalf  they  lost  lives  and 
fortunes      For  the  influence  they  had  to  pay  dearly.     One 
example  may   be   cited.     The   estate   of    one    I?oscms    of 
Ameda,  valued  at  $300,000,  was  bid  in  for  $100  by  Lucius 
Chrysogonus,  a  freedman  of  Sulla,  because  no  one  dared  bid 
a<rainst  the  creature  of  the  dictator.     The  settling  of  the 
soldiers  on  grants  of  land  made  good  business  for  the  three 
commissioners  who  superintended  the   distribution   of   the 
l.md      The  grants  were  always  of  farms  owned  and  occupied 
by  adherents  of  the  beaten  party,  and  the  bribes  ramo  from 

both  sides.  .-..«« 

Careers  of  the  Equites.-The  name  of  knight  had  lost  its  409 

original  significance  long  before  the  time  of  Cicero.     The 
eqnites  had  become  the  class  of  capitalists  who  found  m 
financial  transactions  the  excitement  and  the  profit  that  the 
nobles  found  in  politics  and  war.     It  was  the  immense  scale 
of  their  operations  that  relieved  them  from  the  stigma  that 
attached  to  working  for  gain,  just  as  in  modern  times  the 
wholesale  dealer  may  have  a  social  position  entirely  beyond 
the   hopes  of   the  small  retailer.     As  a  body  the  equites 
exerted  considerable  political  influence,  holding  m  fact  the 
balance  of  power  between  the  senatorial  and  the  democratic 
parties      As  a  rule  they  exerted  this  influence  only  so  far  as 
was  necessary  to  secure  legislation  favorable  to  them  as  a 
class,  and  to  insure  as  governors  for  the  provinces  men  that 
would  not  look  too  closely  into   their   transactions    there. 
For  it  was  in  the  provinces  that  the  knights  as  well  as  the 
nobles  found  their  best  opportunities.     Their  chief  business 
was  the  farming  of  the  revenues.     For  this  purpose  syndi- 
cates were   formed,   which   paid    into    the   public   treasury 


304 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


SOURCES    OF    INCOME    AND    MEANS    OF    LIVING       305 


a  liini|)  Slim,  fixed  by  the  senate,  and  leinihnrscMl  themselves 
by  coUectinu"  what  thev  could  from  the  province.  The 
])i'otits  wcM'c  beyond  all  reason,  and  the  word  publican 
became  a  synonym  for  sinuer.  Besides  farming  the  reve- 
nues they  ''financed''  the  provinces  and  allied  states, 
advancing  money  to  meet  the  ordiiniry  or  extraordinary 
expenses.  Sulla  levied  a  contribution  of  20,000  talents 
(about  $20,000,000)  on  Asia.  The  iJioney  was  advanced  by 
a  syndicate  of  lionnin  capitalists,  nnd  they  had  collected  the 
amount  six  times  ovta*  when  Sulla  interfered,  for  fear  that 
there  would  be  nothing  left  for  him  in  case  of  further  needs. 
More  than  one  pretender  was  set  upon  a  pu})pet  throne  in 
the  East  in  order  to  secure  the  payment  of  sums  previously 
loaned  him  l)y  the  capitalists.  Their  operations  as  individ- 
uals were  only  less  extensive  and  profitable.  The  grain  in 
the  provinces,  the  wool,  tlie  products  of  mines  and  factories 
could  be  moved  oidv  with  the  nionev  advanced  bv  them. 
They  ventured,  too,  to  engage  in  commercial  enterprises 
abroad  that  were  barred  against  them  at  home,  doing  the 
buying  aiul  selling  themselves,  not  merely  supplying  the 
means  to  others.  They  loaned  money  to  individuals,  too, 
though  at  liome  monev  lendinu'  was  discreditable.  'JMio 
usual  rate  was  twelve  per  cent,  but  Marcus  l^rutus  was 
loaning  money  at  forty-eight  per  cent  in  Cilicia,  when  Cicero 
went  there  as  governor  in  ol  n.c,  and  expected  Cicero  to 
enforce  his  contracts  for  him. 
410  The  Soldiers.  —  The  freeborn  citizens  of  Home  below  the 
nobles  and  the  knights  may  be  roughly  divided  into  two 
classes,  the  soldiers  and  the  proletariate.  The  civil  wars 
had  driven  them  from  their  farms  or  had  unfitted  them  for 
the  work  of  farming,  and  the  pride  of  race  or  the  competi- 
tion of  slave  labor  had  closed  against  them  the  other  avenues 
of  industry,  numerous  as  these  must  have  been  in  the 
world's  capital.  The  best  of  this  class  turned  to  the  army. 
This    had    long    since    ceased    to   be    composed    of    citizen- 


Vi 


i 


soldiers,  called  out  to  meet  a  special  emergency  for  a  single 
campaign,  and  disbanded  at  its  close.  It  was  what  we 
should  call  a  regular  army,  the  soldiers  enlisting  for  a  term 
of  twenty  years,  receiving  stated  pay  and  certain  privileges 
after  an  honorable  discharge.  In  time  of  peace,  when  there 
was  peace,  they  were  employed  on  public  works  (§385).  The 
pay  was  small,  perhaps  forty  or  fifty  dollars  a  year  with 
rations  in  Caesar's  time,  but  this  was  as  much  as  a  laborer 
coiUd  earn  by  the  hardest  kind  of  toil,  and  the  soldier  had 
the  glory  of  war  to  set  over  against  the  stigma  of  work,  and 
liopes  of  presents  from  his  commander  and  the  privilege  of 
occasional  pillage  and  plunder.  After  he  had  completed  his 
time  he  might  if  he  chose  return  to  Kome,  but  many  had 
formed  connections  in  the  communities  where  their  posts 
were  fixed  and  preferred  to  make  their  homes  there  on  free 
grants  of  land,  an  important  instrument  in  spreading  Roman 

civilization. 

The  Proletariate.— In  addition  to  the  idle  and  the  profii-  411 
gate  attracted  to  Kome  by  the  free  corn  and  by  the  other 
allurements  that  bring  a  like  element  into  our  cities  now, 
larL^e  numbers  of  the  industrious  and  the  frugal  had  been 
forced  into  the  citv  bv  the  loss  of  their  property  during  the 
civil  wars  and  the  failure  to  find  employment  elsewhere. 
No  exact  estimate  of  the  number  of  these  unemployed 
people  can  be  given,  but  it  is  known  that  before  Caesar's 
time  it  had  passed  the  mark  of  300,000.  Relief  was  occa- 
sionally given  by  the  establishing  of  colonies  on  the  frontiers — 
in  this  way  Caesar  put  as  many  as  80,000  in  the  way  of 
earning  their  living  again,  short  as  was  his  administration 
of  affairs  at  Rome — but  it  was  the  least  harmful  element  that 
was  willing  to  emigrate  and  the  dregs  were  left  behind. 
Aside  from  beggary  and  petty  crimes  their  only  source  of 
income  was  the  sale  of  their  votes,  and  this  made  them  a 
real  menace  to  the  Republic.  Under  the  Empire  their 
political  influence  was  lost  and  the  state  found  it  necessary 


1 


306 


THK    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


f^OFRCES    OF    INCOME    AND    MEANS    OF    JJVING 


30' 


to  make  distributions  of  nioiiey  occasionally  to  relieve  their 
want.      Some    of    them    phiyed    client    to    the    upstart    rich 
(glRl),  but  the  most  were  content  to  be  fed  by  the  state  and 
amused  l)y  the  constantly  increasing  shows  and  games  {i-Mi) 
412        Professions   and   Trades.— The    professions   and    trades, 
between  which  the  Rormuis  made  no  distinction,  in  the  last 
years  of   the   Kepublic  were  practically  given    over    to   thi^ 
nbernni  (SI?'"))  and  to  foreigners.     Of  some  of  these  some- 
thing has  been   said   already.     Teachers   were  poorly   paid 
($J121),  and  usnally  looked  upon  with  contempt.     Physicians 
were  held  in  no  higher  esteem,  but  seem  to  have  been  well 
paid,  if  we  may  judge  from  those  that  were  attached  to  the 
court.     Two  of  these  left  a  joint  estate  of  $1,000, 000,  and 
another  received  from  the  Emperor  (^laudius  a  yearly  stipend 
of  $25,000.     In   knowledge  and   skill  in  l)oth   surgery  and 
medicine  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  much  behind  the 
practitioners  of  two  centuries  ago.     Bankers  united  money 
changing  with  money  loaning.      The  former  was  very  neces- 
sary in  a  city  into  which  came  all  the  coins  of   the  known 
world;  the  latter  was  never  looked  upon  as  entirely  respect- 
able for  a  Roman,  l)ut  there  can  be  no   doubt  that   many  a 
Roman  of  the  highest  respectability  drew  large  profits  from 
this  business,  carried  on  discreetly  in  the  name  of  a  freed- 
man.     The  trades  were  early  organized  at  Rome  in  guilds, 
but  their  only  purpose  seems  to  have  been  to  hand  down  and 
perfect  the  technicpie  of  the  crafts;  at  least   there  was  no 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  workmen  not  belonging  to  the  guilds, 
and  there  were  no  such  things  known  as  patents  or  special 
privileges  in   the   way  of  work.     Eight  of   these  guilds  are 
older  than  history,  those  of  the  fullers,  cobblers,  carpenters, 
goldsmiths,  coppersmiths,  pottars,  dyers,  and  (oddly  enough) 
the  fluteblowers.      Numerous  others  were  formed  as  knowl- 
edo:e  of  the  arts  advanced  or  the  division  of  labor  proceeded. 
Special  parts  of  the  city  seem  to  have  been  appropriated  by 
special  classes  of  workmen,  as  like  businesses  are  apt  to  be 


carried   on  in  the  same  neighborhood   in  our  i*ities:  C'icero 
speaks  of  a  street  of  the  Scythemakers. 

Business  and  Commerce.— The  commerce  of  Rome  covered  413 
all  lands  and  seas.      Pliny  tells  us  that  the  trade  with  India 
and  China  took  from  Rome  $5,000,000  yearly.     The  whole- 
sale trade  was  to  a  large  extent  in  the  hands  of  the  capitalist 
class,   the  retail  business  was   conducted  by  freedmen  and 
foreigners.     How  large  these  businesses   were  we  haVe  no 
means  of  telling.     The  supplying  of  the  food  to  the  city 
must  have  given  employment    to    thousands;  the    clothing 
trade  has  been  mentioned  already  (§2ri).      Building  opera- 
tions were  carried  on  at  an  immense  cost  and  on  the  largest 
scale.      All   the  public  buildings  and  many  of  the  important 
private  buildings   were   built  by   contract.     There    can    he 
little  doubt  that  the  letting  of  the  contracts  for  the  publico 
])uildings  was  made  very  profitable  for  the  officers  who  had  it 
to  do,  but  it  must  be  admitted  on  the  other  hand   that  the 
work  was  well  done.      Crassus  seems  to  have  done  a  sort  of 
salvage    business.      When   buildings    seemed    certain    to    l)e 
destroyed  by  fire  he  would  buy  them  with  their  contents  at 
a  nominal   sum,   and  then  fight  the  flames  with   gangs   of 
slaves  that  he  had  trained  for  the  purpose.      The  slave  trade 
itself  was  verv  considerable  and  large  fortunes  were  amassed 
in  it  (gl'^0).     The  heavy  work  of  ordinary  laborers  was  per- 
formed  almost  entirely  by   slaves    (gUS),  and   it  must  be 
remembered  that  much  work  was  then  done  by  haiul  that  is 
now   done   by    machinery.     The    hook    business    has    been 
mentioned   (sJ400).     Even  the  place  of  the  modern   news- 
paper was  taken  by  letters  written  as  a  business  by  persons 
who  collected  all  the  news,  gossip,  and  scaiulal  of  the  city, 
had  it  copied  hv  slaves,  and  S3nt  it  to  persons  away  from  the 
city  who  did  not  like   to   trouble  their  friends   (;$370)  and 
were  willing  to  pay  for  intelligence. 

The  Civil  Service.— The  free  persons  employed   in   the  411 
offices  of  the  various  magistrates  were  of  the  lowest  class, 


308 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


mostly  UberthiL  They  were  paid  by  the  state,  and  while 
appointed  nominally  for  a  year  only,  they  seem  to  have  prac- 
tically held  their  places  during  good  behavior.  This  was 
largely  due  to  the  shortness  of  the  term  of  the  regular  mag- 
istrates and  the  rarity  of  reelection.  Having  no  experience 
themselves  in  conducting  their  offices  the  magistrates  would 
have  all  the  greater  need  of  thoroughly  trained  and  experi- 
enced assistants.  The  highest  class  of  these  officials  formed 
an  ordo^  the  scr'ibae,  whose  name  gives  no  adequate  notion 
of  the  extent  and  importance  of  their  duties.  All  that  is 
now  done  by  cabinet  officers,  secretaries,  department  heads, 
bureau  cliiefs,  auditors,  comptrollers,  recorders,  and  account- 
ants, down  to  the  work  of  the  ordinary  clerks  and  copyists, 
was  done  by  these  "scribes."  Below  them  came  others 
almost  equally  necessary  but  not  equally  respected,  the 
lictors,  messengers,  etc.  These  civil  servants  had  special 
places  at  the  theater  and  the  circus.  The  positions  seem  to 
have  been  in  great  demand,  as  such  places  are  now  in 
France,  for  example.  Horace  is  said  to  have  been  a  depart- 
ment clerk. 
415  The  Roman's  Day. — The  way  in  which  a  Roman  spent  his 
day  depended,  of  course,  upon  his  position  and  business,  and 
varied  greatly  with  individuals  and  with  the  particular  day. 
The  ordinary  routine  of  a  man  of  the  higher  class,  the  man 
of  whom  we  read  most  frequently  in  Eoman  literature,  was 
something  like  this:  The  Roman  rose  at  a  very  early  hour, 
his  day  beginning  before  sunrise,  because  it  ended  so  early. 
After  a  hurried  breakfast  (^')0-2)  he  devoted  such  time  as 
was  necessary  to  his  private  business,  looking  over  accounts, 
consulting  with  his  managers,  giving  directions,  etc.  Cicero 
and  Pliny  found  these  early  hours  the  best  for  their  literary 
work.  Horace  tells  of  lawyers  giving  free  advice  at  three  in 
the  morning.  After  his  private  business  was  despatched  the 
Roman  took  his  place  in  the  atrium  (§108)  for  the  saJutdfio 
(§182),  when  his  clients  came  to  pay  their  respects,  perhaps 


It 


I 


SOURCES    OF    INCOME    AND    MEANS    OF    LIVING       309 

to  ask  for  the  help  or  advice  that  he  was  bound  to  furnish 
them  (§171)).     All  this  business  of  the  early  morning  might 
have  to  be  dispensed  with,  however,  if  the  Roman  was  asked 
to  a  wedding  (5579),  or  to  be  present  at  the  naming  of  a  child 
(§97),  or  to  witness  the  coming  of  age  (§1-2S)  of  the  son  of  a 
friend,  for  all  these  semi-public  functions  took  place  in  the 
early   morning.     But    after   them    or   after   the   levee   the 
Roman    went   to   the   forum    attended   by   his    clients   and 
carried  in  his  litter  (glol)  with  his  ndmenddtor  eit  his  elbow. 
The  business  of  the  courts  and  of  the  senate  began  about 
the  third  hour,   and  might    continue   until    the   ninth   or 
tenth,    that   of   the    senate   was   bound  to  stop  at  sunset. 
Except  on  extraordinary  occasions  all  business  was  pretty 
sure  to  be  over  before  eleven  o'clock,  and  at  this  time  the 
lunch  was  taken  (§302). 

Then  came  the  midday  siesta,  so  general  that  the  streets  416 
were  as  deserted  as  at  midnight,  and  one  of  the  Roman 
writers  fixes  upon  this  as  the  proper  time  for  a  ghost  story. 
Of  course  there  were  no  sessions  of  the  courts  or  meetings  of 
the  senate  on  the  public  holidays,  and  then  the  hours  gener- 
ally oriven  to  business  might  be  spent  at  the  theater  or  the 
circus  or  other  games.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Romans  of 
the  better  class  rather  avoided  these  shows,  unless  they  were 
officially  connected  with  them,  and  many  of  them  devoted 
the  holidays  to  visiting  their  country  estates.  After  the 
siesta,  which  lasted  for  an  hour  or  more,  the  Roman  was 
ready  for  his  regular  athletic  exercise  and  bath,  either  in 
the  Campus  and  the  Tiber  (§317)  or  in  one  of  the  public 
bathing  establishments  (§3(;5).  The  bath  proper  (S367) 
was  followed  by  the  lounge  (§377),  perhaps  a  promenade  in 
the  court,  which  gave  him  a  chance  for  a  chat  with  a  friend, 
or  an  opportunity  to  hear  the  latest  news,  to  consult  business 
associates,  in  short  to  talk  over  any  of  the  things  that  men 
now  discuss  at  their  clubs.  After  this  came  the  great  event 
of  the  day,  the  dinner  (§303),  at  his  own  house  or  at  that  of 


I' 


310 


some 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


friend,   followed    immediately  by  retirement   for  the 
night.     Even  on   the  days  spent   in   the  conntry  this  pro- 

p-ramme  would  not  be  materi- 


417 


'^ 


MtNSIS 
lANVAR 


MtKtIS 
^[■IIVAII 


gramme 

ally  changed,  and  the  Uoman 
took  with  him  into  the  prov- 
inces the  customs  of  his  home 
life  so  far  as  possible. 

Hours  of  the  Day.— The 
day  itself  was  divided  into 
twelve  hours  {home),  each 
being  one- twelfth  of  the  time 
between  sunrise  and  sunset 
and  varving  therefore  with  the  season  of  the  year.  The 
length  of  the  day  and  hour  at  Rome  in  different  times  of 
the  year  is  shown  in  the  following  table: 


MENSIS 

JA.NUAR  . 

DIES  .  XXXJ  . 

NON  .  Qt'i>rr  . 

DLEa  .  HOR  .  VUIIS 

NOX  .  HOR  .  XIIII  , 

SOL  . 

CAPRIOORKO  . 

TUTELa  . 

JTJ>IONU*  . 

PALU8 

AQurruR . 

SAXJX  . 
HARUNDO 

SACRiriCAJ* 

DIS  . 
Pt>ATlBUS. 


i. 


«    •»•*•*,% 

^^  *•?»'•■• 

.  *•  *«'  *  • 

l.-..,»*- 

.^•.-t  *■«» 

<-^»»"S**"- 

...  m-   ••■   - 

^«>.«^«*» 

-,••*-»•• 

.-•'••-•*'•' 

^  •"'«»'" 

^«.^^   **-* 

^  mM*^*  *■*»• 

.    •••*-»••■ 

•  »'*•*♦ 

W'^**-**,-    . 

^f 

»  %-\-.* 

FiaUKE  IW.      ANCIENT  CALENDAR 


Month  and 
Day 

Dec.  23  . 
Feb.  6  . 
March  23 
May  9      . 


Length  of 
Day 

8°  54 ' 

9^  50 ' 

12    00' 

14°  10' 


Length  of 
Hour 

44'  30" 
49'  10" 

1    00'  00" 
I    10'  50" 


Month  and 
Day 

June  25  . 
Aug.  10  . 
Sept.  25  . 
Nov.  9      . 


Length  of      Length  of 
Day  Hour 

.    W     6'  1     15'  30" 

14^  10'  1°  10'  50 

12"  00'  1    00'  00 
9    50'  49'   10 


f  t 


1 1 


418  Taking  the  days  of  June  25  and  December  2:^  as 
respectively  the  longest  and  shcn-test  of  the  year,  the  follow- 
ing table  gives  the  conclusion  of  each  hour  for  summer  and 


Av  inter: 

Time 
Sunrise 
1st  Hour 
2d  Hour 
3(1  Hour 
4tli  Hour 


Summer 
4   27'  00" 
5"  42'  30" 
C)   58'  00" 


Winter 
7°  33'  00" 

8  17'  30" 

9  2' 00" 
9   4(5'  30" 


Time 


Summer 


7th  Hour  1    15'  30" 

8tliHour  2    31    00  " 

9th  Hour  3   46'  30" 

10th  Hour  5     2'  00" 

nth  Hour  6^7' 30" 

12th  Hour  7   33'  00" 


Winter 

12   44'  30" 

1  29'  00" 

2  13'  30" 

2  58'  00" 

3  42'  30  " 

4'^  27'  00" 


8  13'  30" 

9  29'  00"  10  31'  00" 
5th  Hour  10  44  30"  IT  15' 30" 
6th  Hour    12   00'  00"  12   00'  00" 

In  the  same  way  the  hours  may  be  calculated   for  any 
given  day,  the  length  of  the  day  and  the  hour  of  sunrise 


SOURCES    OF    INCOME    AND    MEANS    OF    LIVING        311 

being  known,  but  for  all  practical  purposes  the  old  couplet 

will  serve: 

The  English  liour  you  may  iix, 
If  to  the  Latin  you  add  six. 

When  the  Latin  hour  is  above  six  it  will  be  more  con- 
venient to  subtract  than  to  add. 


CHAPTER   XII 

BURIAL-PLACES  AND  FUNERAL  CEREMONIES 

References:  Marquardt,  340-388;  Voigt,  319-3->2,-396,  455;  Goll,  480-M7;  Guhl 
and  Koner,  580-595,  857-863;  Friedliinder,  lil,  1:^5-137;  Ramsay,  479-482;  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  cenotaphium.  columbarium;  Smith,  Harper,  Rich,  columbarium,  J unus, 
sepulcrum;  Lubker,  Bestatt,mg,  sepuhrum;  Bamneister,  308-311,  604-609,  1520  f.; 
Mau-Kelsey,  309-428:  Gusmaii,  44-54;  Egbert,  Latin  Inscriptions,  230-242;  Lauciani, 
Ancient  Rome,  64,  129  f. 

419       Importance  of  Burial.— The  Romans'  view  of  the  future 
life  explains  the  importance  they  attached  to  the  ceremonial 


Figure  193.    Tomb  of  Plancus 


burial  of  the  dead.  The  soul,  they  thought,  could  find  rest 
only  when  the  body  had  been  duly  laid  in  the  grave;  until 
this  was  done  it  haunted   the  home,   unhappy  itself   and 

313 


/'/      v^ 


BUUIAh-l'LACKS    AND    FINERAL    CERKMONIKS        313 

bringing  unhapplness  to  others.  To  perform  the  funeral 
offices  {iiidafacerv)  was,  therefore,  a  solemn  religious  duty, 
devolving  upon  the  surviving  members  of  the  family  (§-28), 
and  the  Latin  words  show  that  these  marks  of  respect  were 
looked  upon  as  tlie  right  of  the  dead.  In  the  case  of  a  body 
lost  at  sea,  or  for  any  other  reason  unrecovered,  the  cere- 
monies were  just  as  piously  performed,  an  empty  tomb 
{cemtaj)hium)    being   erected   sometimes   in  honor   of   the 


FiGUBE  194.   Tomb  of  Cestius 

dead.  And  these  same  rites  the  Roman  was  bound  to 
perform,  if  he  came  anywhere  upon  the  unburied  corpse  of 
a  citizen,  because  all  were  members  of  the  greater  family  of 
the  commonwealth.  In  this  case  the  scattering  of  three 
handfuls  of  dust  over  the  body  was  sutficient  for  ceremonial 
burial  and  the  happiness  of  the  troubled  spirit,  if  for  any 
reason  the  body  could  not  actually  be  interred. 

Interment  and  Cremation.— Burial  was  the  way  of  dispos-  420 
hig  of  the  dead  practiced  most  anciently  by  the  Romans, 
and  even  after  cremation  came  into  very  general  use  it  was 


i 


314 


THE    PRIVATE    LIKE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


BURIAL-PLACES    AND    FUNERAL   CEREMONIES 


315 


ceremonially  necessary  that  some  small  part  of  the  remains, 
usually  the  bone  of  a  finger,  should  be  buried  in  the  eartli. 
Burniug   was   practiced    before    the   time   of    the    Twelve 
Tables,  for  it  is  mentioned  together  with  burial  in  them, 
but  we  do  not  know  how  long  before.     Hygienic  reasons  had 
probably  something  to  do  with  its  general  adoption,  and  this 
implies,  of  course,  cities  of  considerable  size.     By  the  time 
of  Augustus  it  was  all  but  universal,  but  even  m  Rome  the 
practice  of  burial  was  never  entirely  discontinued,  for  cre- 
mation was  too  costly  for  the  very  poorest  classes,  and  some 
of  the  wealthiest  and  most  aristocratic  families  held  fast  to 
the    more   ancient    custom.      The    Cornelii,    for    example, 
always  buried  their  dead   until    the    dictator    required   his 
body  to  be  burned  for  fear  that  his  boms  might  be  disinterred 
aiuf  dishonored  bv  his  enemies,  as  he  had  dishonored  those 
of  Marius.     Children  less  than  forty  days  old  were  always 
buried,  and  so,  too,  slaves  whose  funeral  expenses  were  paid 
by  their   masters.     After  the  introduction  of    t'linstianity 
bnrial  came  again  to  be  the  prevailing  use,  largely  because  of 
the  increased  expense  of  burning. 
421       Places  of  Burial.— The  most  ancient  place  of  burial,  at 
least  for  the  head  of  the  house,  was  beneath  the  hearthstone 
in  the  (Uriioii  of  his  house,  later  in  the  garden  behind  his 
house    but  this  had  ceased  to  be  the  custom  long  before 
history  begins,  and  the  'JVelve  Tables  forbade  the  burial  or 
even  the  burning  of  the  dead  within  the  walls  of  the  city. 
For  the  very  poor,  places  of  burial  were  provided  in  remote 
localities  outside  the  walls,  corresponding  in  some  degree  to 
the  Potter's  Field  of  modern  cities.     The  well-to-do  made 
their   burial-places   as    conspicuous  as    their  means  would 
permit,  with  the  hope  that  the  inscriptions  upon  the  monu- 
ments would  keep  alive  the  names  and  virtues  of  the  dead, 
and  with  the  idea,  perhaps,  that  they  still  had  some  part  in 
the  busy  life   around   them.     To   this   end  they  lined   the 
great  r.^ads  on  either  side  for  miles  out  of  the  cities  with 


i 


fi 


rows  of  tombs  of  the  most  elaborate  and  costly  architecture. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Kome  the  Appian  way  as  the  oldest  (§385) 
showed  the  monuments  of  the  noblest  and  most  ancient 
families,  but  none  of  tlie  roads  lacked  similar  memorials. 
Many  of  these  tombs  were  standing  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
a  few  still  remain.  The  same  custom  was  followed  in  the 
smaller  towns,  and  an  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  monu- 
ments may  be  had  from  the  so-called  -(Street  of  Tombs"  in 


Figure  195.    Street  of  Tombs  at  Pomi'EJE 

Pompeii  (Fig.  IDo).  There  were  other  burial-places  near 
the  cities,  of  course,  less  conspicuous  and  less  expensive,  and 
on  the  farms  and  country  estates  like  provision  was  made  for 
persons  of  humbler  station. 

The  Tombs.— The  tombs,  whether  intended  to  receive  422 
the  bodies  or  merely  the  ashes,  or  both,  differed  widely  in 
size  and  construction  witli  the  different  purposes  for  which 
they  were  erected.  Some  were  for  individuals  only,  but 
these  in  most  cases  were  strictly  pul)lic  memorials  as  distin- 
guished from  actual  tombs  intended  to  receive  the  remains 


316 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


FiCUTRK  1%.      KXTEKIOR   (»K   TOMB   AT   POMPKII 


'  m    « 


of  the  dead.  The  larger  number  of  those  that  lined  the 
roads  were  family  tombs,  ample  in  size  for  whole  generations 
of  descendants  and  retainers  of  the  family,  including  guest- 
friends  (§185),  who  had  died  away  from  their  own  homes, 

and  freedmen 
(§175).  There 
were  also  the 
b  u  r  i  a  1-places 
of-  the  ge)itcs 
(§21), in  which 
provision  was 
made  for  all, 
even  the  hum- 
blest and  poor- 
est, who  claim- 
ed   connection 

with  ihegeus  and  had  had  a  place  in  its  formal  organization 
(§22).  Others  were  erected  on  ^  large  scale  by  speculators 
who  sold  at  low  prices  space  enougn  xor  an  urn  or  two  toper- 
sons  too  poor  to  erect  tombs  of  their  own  and  without  any 
claim  on  a  family  or  gentile  burying-place.  In  imitation  of 
these  structures  others  were  erected  on  the  same  plan  by 
burial  societies  formed  by  persons  of  the  artisan  chiss,  and 
others  still  bv  benevolent  men,  as  we  have  seen  batlis  (S-5T*)) 
and  libraries  (§40-^)  erected  and  maintained  for  the  public 
good.  Something  will  be  said  of  the  tombs  of  all  these  kinds 
^  after  the  public  burying-places  have  been  described. 
423  The  Potter's  Field.— During  the  Republic  the  Esquiline 
Hill,  or  at  least  the  eastern  part  of  it,  was  the  place  to  which 
was  carted  all  the  refuse  of  the  city  that  the  sewers  would 
not  carry  away.  Here,  too,  were  the  gravepits  {jmficxU) 
for  the  pauper  class.  They  were  merely  holes  in  the  ground, 
about  twelve  feet  square,  without  lining  of  any  kind.  Into 
them  were  thrown  the  bodies  of  the  friendless  poor,  and 
along   with   them   and   over   them   the   carcasses   of    dead 


IPI 


BURIAL-FT>ACES    AXT>    FUNERAL    CERENfONTES 


Ml 


animals  and  the  filth  and  scrapings  of  the  streets.  The  pits 
were  kept  open,  uncovered  apparently  even  when  filled,  am 
the  stench  and  the  disease-breeding  pollution  made  the  hill 
absolutely  uninhabitable.  Under  Augustus  the  danger  to 
the  health  of  the  whole  city  became  so  great  that  the 
dumping  grounds  were  moved  to  a  greater  distance,  and  the 


FkJUBK  197.     SKCTTOKS  OK  ToMR  SHOWN  IN  FIGURE  196 


Esquiline,  covered  over  pits  and  all  with  pure  soil  to  the 
depth  of  twenty-five  feet,  was  made  a  park,  known  as  the 

Horfl  .Vaereiu'dis. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood,  however,  that  the  bodies  ot  424 
Roman  citizens  were  ordinarily  disposed  of  in  this  revolting 
way      Faithful  freedmen  were  cared  for  by  their  patrons, 
the   industrious   poor   made    provision    for    themselves   m 
cooperative  societies  mentioned  above,  and  the  proletariate 
class  (^-tll)  Avas  in  general  saved  from  such  a  fate  by  gentile 
relations,  by  patrons  (§181),  or  by  the  benevolence  of  indi- 
viduals.    Only  in  times  of  plague  and  pestilence,  it  is  sate  to 
say   were  the  bodies  of  known  citizens  cast  into  these  pits, 
as  under  like  circumstances  bodies  have  been  burned   in 
heaps  in  our  own  cities.     The  uncounted  thousands  that 
peopled  the  Potter's  Field  of  Rome  were  the  riffraff  from 
foreign  lands,  abandoned  slaves  (§15G),  the   victims   that 
perished    in   the   arena    (§3<;2),    outcasts   of    the    crimma 
class,  and  the  "unidentified"  that  are  buried  nowadays  at 


.^18 


THK    PRIVATE    LTFK    OF    THE    UOMANK 


BURIAL-]>LACES    AND    FUNERAL    CEREMONIES 


319 


piiWic  expense,  (^rirnimils  put  to  deiith  by  authority  were 
not  buried  jit  all;  their  carcasses  were  left  to  hirds  and 
heasts  of  prey  at  the  place  of  execution  near  the  Esquiline 


^ate. 


425  Plan  of  Tombs  and  Grounds.-  -The  utmost  diversity  pre- 
vails in  the  outward  form  and  construction  of  the  tombs, 
but  those  of  the  classical  period  seem  to  have  been  planned 
with  the  thought  that  the  tomb  was  to  be  a  home  for  the 
dead  and  that  they  were  not  altogether  cut  off  from  the 

living.    The  tomb,  there- 
fore,   whether   built    for 
one  person  or  for  many, 
was    ordinarily    a   build- 
ing inclosing  a  room  (sr- 
pulcrum),  and  this  room 
was  really  the  important 
thinof.       Attention     has 
already  been  called  {i\>>^^) 
to  the  fact  that  even  the 
urns  had  in  ancient  times 
the  shape  of  the    house 
of  one  room.     The  floor  of  the  sepnlrrum  was  quite  com- 
monly ))elow  the  level  of  the  surrounding  grounds  and  was 
reached  by  a  short  ilight  of  steps.     Around  the  base  of  th(^ 
walls  ran  a  slightly  elevated  platform  {podium,  cf.   ;;S'^*^'«'> 
357)   on    whieh   were  placed   the  coffins  of  those  who  were 
})aried,  while  the  urns  were  placed  either  on  the  platform  or 
in  niches  in  the  wall.      An  altar  or  shrine  is  often  found,  at 
which  offerings  were  made  to  the  vuuie^  of  the  departed. 
Lamps  are  very  common  and   so  are  other  simple  articles  of 
furniture,  and  the  walls,  floors,  and  ceilings  are  decorated  in 
the  same  style  as  those  of  houses  (i^ii)  f.).    Things  that  the 
dead  liked  to  have  around    them  when   living,   especially 
things  that  they  had  used  in  their  ordinary  occupations,  were 
placed  in  the  tomb  at  the  time  of  burial,  or  burned  with 


Fna'KK  151^.    Interior  of  Tomb  at  Pompkii 


them  on  tlie  funeral  pyre,  and  in  general  an  eiVort  was  made 
to  give  ail  air  of  life  to  the  chamber  of  rest.  The  interior 
of  a  tomb  at  Pompeii  is  shown  in  Fig.  11)8,  and  sections  ot 

another  in  Fig.  107,  §423. 

The  monument  itself  was  always  built  upon  a  plot  ot  425 
ground    as   spacious   as   the  means   of  the  builders  would 
permit,  sometimes  several  acres  in  extent.      In  it  provision 
was  made  for  the  comfort   of  survivhig   members   of   the 
family,  who  were  bound  to  visit  the  Harunflinetum 

resting-place  of  their  dead  on  cer- 
tain   regularly  recurring   festivals 
(§4:58).     If  the  grounds  were  small 
tiiere  would  he  at  least  a  seat,  per- 
haps a  bench.     On  more  extensive 
grounds  there  were  places  of  shel- 
ter,   arbors,    or    summer    houses. 
Dining-rooms,  too,  in  which  were 
celebrated  the  anniversary  feasts, 
and  private  mtrhiae  (places  for  the 
burning  of  bodies)  are  frequently 
mentioned.      Often    the    grounds 

were  laid  out  as  gardens  or  parks,  with  trees  and  flowers,  wells, 
cisterns  or  fountains,  and  even  a  house,  with  other  buildings 
perhaps,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  slaves  or  f reedmen  who 
were  in  charge.  A  plan  of  such  a  garden  is  shown  m  Fig.  V.U. 
In  the  middle  of  the  garden  is  the  area,  the  technical  word  for 
the   plot   of   ground   set   aside  for  the  tomb,  with  several 
buildings  upon  it,  one  of  which  is  a  storehouse  or  granary 
(/wrre>n»);  around  the  tomb  itself  are  beds  of  roses  and 
violets,  used  in  festivals  (§4.38),  and  around  them  m  turn 
are   grapes   trahied  on  trellises.     In  the  front  is  a  terrace 
(sdldrimn,  cf.  §207),  and  in  the  rear  two  pools  (pmnuw) 
connected  with  the  area  by  a  little  canal,  while  at  the  back 
is  a  thicket  of  shrubbery  {harun^linefum).     The  purpose  of 
the  granary  is  not  clear  as  no  grain  seems  to  have  been 


Plan  of  Grounds  about  Tomb 


*i 


320 


TFTK    PRTVATK    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


mised  on  the  lot,  but  it  may  have  been  left  wiiere  it  stood 
before  the  ground  was  consecrated.      A  tomb  surrounded  by 
grounds  of  some  extent  was  called  a  cepofap/num. 
427        Exterior  of  the  Tombs.— An  idea  of  the  exterior  appear- 
ance of  monuments  of   the  better  sort   may  be  had  from 


Figure  200.    Ruins  of  CoLFMBARirM  of  Litta 

Figs.  193-100.  The  forms  are  very  many,  those  of  the  altar 
and  temple  are  the  most  common,  perhaps,  but  memorial 
arches  and  niches  are  often  found,  and  at  Pompeii  the  semi- 
circular bench  that  was  used  for  conversation  out  of  doors 
occurs  several  times,  covered  and  uncovered.  Xot  all  of  the 
tombs  have  the  sepulchral  chamber,  the  remains  being 
sometimes  deposited  in  the  earth  beneath  the  monument. 
In  such  cases  a  tube  or  pipe  of  lead  ran  from  the  receptacle 
to  the  surface,  through  which  offerings  of  wane  and  milk 
could  be  poured  (§§429,  438).  In  Fig.  193,  §419,  is  shown 
the  round  monument  at  Caieta  of  Lucius  Munatius  Plancus, 


BURTAL-PLACES    AND    FFXERAL    CEREMONTEJ^         321 

one  of  Caesar^  marshals  {IPf/d/l)  in  (iaul,  the  inscription'  on 
which  recounts   the   positions  he  had  filled  aud  the  work  he 
had  done.     In  Fig.  194,  §42(),  is  shown  the  pyramid  erected 
at   Home  in  honor  of   Caius   (^estius   by  his   heirs,    one  of 
whom  was  Marcus  Agrippa.     According  to  the  inscription 
on  it  the  monument  was  completed  in  330  days.     The  most 
imposing  of  all   was  the  mausoleum  of  Hadrian  (Fig.  '205, 
§-t3S)  at^'lJotne,  now  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo.     A  less  elabo- 
rate exterior  is  that  of  the  'Homb  with  the  marble  door^^  at 
Pompeii,  given  in  Fig.  196,  §4'2'2. 

The  Columbaria.— From  the  family  tombs  were  developed  428 
the   immense    structures   mentioned   in   §422   intended   to 
receive  great   numbers 
of  urns.    They  began  to 
be  erected  i]\  the  time 
of  Augustus  and  seem 
to  have  been   confined 
to  liome,  where  the  high 
price  of  land  made  the 
purchase  of  private  bur- 
ial-grounds  impossible 
for  the  poorer  classes. 
An  idea  of  their  inte- 
rior arrangements  may 
l)e  had  from  the  ruins 
(Fig. 200)  of  one  erect- 
ed on  the  Appian  way  for  the  freedmen  of  Livia,  the  wife  of 
Augustus.    From  their  resemblance  to  a  dovecote  or  pigeon 
house  they  were  called  columbaria.     They  are  usually  partly 
underground,  rectangular  in  form,  with  great  numbers  of  the 
1  Inscription    on    the   tomb   of    Pi^nciisr~^l^cius    Munatius 
Plancus,  son,  etc.  (^39),  consul,  censor,  twice  imperator,  member  of 
the  board  of  seven  in  charge  of  sacrificial  feasts.     He  celebrated  a 
triumph  over   the  people  of   Raetia.     From  the  spoils  of  war  he 
erected  a  temple  to  Saturn      In  Italy  he  assigned  lands  about  Bene- 
ventum.     In  Gaul  he  plante<l  colonies  at  Lugdunum  and  Raurica." 


Figure  201. 
Ground  Plan  of  Columbarium  of  Ltvia 


822 


THK    I'RIVATK     LTFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


COiFNgillO    CM£iy£L£.-4 


\nJJJJJJJJJJn^^JJJJ^Jn^Jn^^J^^J^n^^ 


[ 


mJMMMl 


I 


.^ 


■'•KN  flip's  LVCIVS  S''tPlO  BaRBa"^SLNawOO»«^"''<1 


^ 


FlOUKK  '202.     SAiu;oiMiA(jrs  of  Scipio 


niches  (also  called  colaiithdrla)  riiiiniiig  in  regular  rows  hori- 
zoiitcilly  {(jnnlfis)  and  vertically  (ordiues),  .  In  the  larger 
colu  Nihil  rut  provision  was  made  for  as  many  as  a  thousand 
urns.  Around  the  walls  at  the  base  w^as  a  podium,  on  which 
were  placed  the  sarcophagi  of  those  whose  remains  had  not 
been  burned,  and  sometimes  chambers  were  excavated  beneatli 

the    tloor    for    the 
same  purpose.      In 
the     podimn    were 
also  niches  that  no 
•space  might  be  lost. 
If  the  height  of  the 
building  was  great 
enough   to  warrant 
it,   wooden    galler- 
ies ran  around  the 
walls.     Access  to  the  room  was  given  by  a  stairway  in  which 
3  were  niches,  too;  light  was  furnished  by  small  window^s  near 
the  ceiling,  and  walls  and  floors  were  handsomely  finished 
and  decorated. 
429        The  niches  were    sometimes  rectangular    in    form,   but 
more  commonly  half  round,  as  shown  in  Figs.  2()0  and  208. 
Some  of    the   columbaria    have  the    lower    rows    rectangu- 
lar, those  above  arched.    They  contained  ordinarily  two  urns 
{(dlav^  (diae  ossaariac)  each,  arranged  side  by  side,  that  they 
mio-lit  be  visible  from  the  front.     Occasionally  the  niches 
were  made  deep  enough  for  two  sets  of  urns,  those  behiml 
being  elevated  a  little  over  those  in  front.     Above  or  below 
each    niche    was   fastened    to    the    wall    a   piece   of  mar])le 
{fituhis)   on  wliich   was  cut   the   name  of  the  owner.    If  a 
person  required  for  his  family  a  group  of  four  or  six  niclies, 
it  was  customary  to  mark  them  off  from  tlie  others  by  w^all 
decorations  to  show  that  they  made  a  unit;  a  very  common 
way  was  to  erect  pillars  at  the  sides  so  as  to  give  the  appear- 
ance of  the  front  of  a  temple  (Fig.  20o).     Such  groups  were 


f 


nURlAL-FLACKS    AND    FUNERAL    CEREMONIES         323 

called  aediculae.   The  value  of  the  places  depended  upon  their 
position,  those  in  the  higher  rows  {uradv^)  being  less  expen- 
give  than  those  near  the 
fioor,   those    under   the 
stairway  the  least  desir- 
able   of    all.     'V\\Q  urns 
themselves  were  of  vari- 
ous materials  (§437)  and 
usually  cemented  to  the 
bottom   of    the    niches. 
The  tops    could    be   re- 
moved, but    they,    too, 
were    sealed     after    the 
ashes    had  been    placed 
in  them,  small  openings 
being  left  through  which 
otferings    of     milk    and 
wine   coidd   be  poured. 
On  the  urns  or  their  tops 
were  painted  the  names 
of  the  dead  with  some- 


FlOTRK  203.      AEDICULA    IN   COLUMBARIUM 


times  the  dav  and  tlie  month  of  death.  The  year  is  almost 
never  found."  Over  the  dour  of  su.h  -a  colunihanum  on  the 
outside  was  cut  an  inscription  giving  the  names  of  the 
owners,  the  (hite  of  erection,  and  other  particulars. 

The  Burial  Societies.- Karly  in  the  Empire  associations  430 
were  formed  for  tlie  purpose  of  meeting  tlie  funeral  expenses 
of  their  members,  whether  the  remains  were  to  be  buried  or 
cremated,  or  for  the  purpose  of  l)nilding  robniihdria,  or  for 
both.  'J'hese  cooperative  associations  {coUcf/ia  jRnn-afina) 
started  origimilly  among  members  of  the  same  guild  (^iVi) 
or  among  persons  of  the  same  occupation.  Tliey  called 
themselves  hy  many  names,  adiorcs  of  this  deity  or  that, 
eoUcf/id  sahVrn-ia,  eolkf/m  invenum,  etc.,  but  their  ol)jects 
and' methods  were  pructi.-ally  the  same.     If  the  members 


324 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


liad  provided  places  for  the  disposal  of  their  bodies  after 
death  thev  now  iirovided  for  the  iieeessarv^  funeral  expenses 
by  paying  into  the  common  fund  weekly  a  small  fixed 
sum,  easily  within  the  reach  of  the  poorest  of  them.  When 
a  member  died  a  stated  sum  was  drawn  for  his  funeral 
from  the  treasury,  a  committee  saw  that  the  rites  were 
decently  performed,  and  at  the  proper  seasons  (^-^38)  the 
society  made  corporate  offerings  to  the  dead.  If  the  ])urpose 
of  the  society  was  the  buiUling  of  a  ('(fhimharium,  the  cost  was 
firftt  determined  and  the    sum    total  divided  into  what  we 


Figure  204.    Cinkkary  Urns 


should  call  shares  (sorfes  rlrl/es),  each  member  taking  as  many 
as  he  could  afford  and  paying  their  value  into  the  treasury. 
Sometimes  a  benevolent  person  would  contribute  toward 
the  expense  of  the  undertaking,  and  then  such  a  person 
would  be  made  an  honorary  member  of  the  society  with  the 
title  of  pafroniix  or  patroHU,  The  erection  of  the  building 
was  intrusted  to  a  number  of  curdtdres^  chosen  by  ballot, 
naturally  the  largest  shareholders  and  most  influential  men. 
They  let  the  contracts  and  superintended  the  construction, 
rendering  account  for  all  the  money  expende'd.  The  office 
of  the  curators  was  considered  very  honorable,  especially  as 
their  names  appeared  on  the  inscription  without  the 
building,  and  they  often  showed  their  appreciation  of  the 


BURIAL-PLACES    AND    FUNERAL    CEREMONIES 


325 


honor  done  them  by  providing  at  their  own  expense  for  the 
decoration  of  the  interior,  or  by  furnishing  all  or  a  part  of 
the  titnU,  oUae,  etc.,  or  by  erecting  on  the  surrounding 
grounds  places  of  shelter  and  dining-rooms  for  the  use  of 
the  members,  like  those  mentioned  in  ;<426. 

After   the    completion   of    the   building    the    cnrdfores  ^2\ 
allotted  the  niches  to  the  individual  members.     The  niches 
were    either    numbered   consecutively  throughout    or    their 
position  was  fixed  by  the  number  of  the  onlo  and  (jmdiL^ 
(§428)  in  which  they  were  situated.      Bei^ause  they  were  not 
ail  equallv  desirable,   as   has  been   explained,    the   curators 
divided   tiiem   into  sections   as  fairly  as   possible  and  then 
assigned  the  sections  {loc'i)  by  lot  to  the  shareholders.     If  a 
man  held  several  shares  of  stock  he  received  a  corresponding 
number  of  loci,  though  they  might  be  in  widely  different 
parts  of  the  building,     llie  members  were  allowed  freely  to 
dispose  of  their  holdings  by  exchange,  sale,  or  gift,  and  many 
of  the  larger  stockholders  probably  engaged  in  the  enterprise 
for  the  sake  of  the  profits  to  be  made  in  this  way.     After  the 
division  was  made  the  owners  had  their  names  cut  upon  the 
tltuU,  and  might  put  up  the  columns  to  mark  the  aedwulae, 
set  up  statues"  etc.,  if  they  pleased.     Some  of  the  tituri  give 
besides  the  name  of  the  owner  the  number  and  position  of 
his   loci  or    ollae.     Sometimes  they  record  the  purchase  of 
ollae,  giving  the  number  bought  and  the  name  of  the  pre- 
vious owner.  Some- 

L  •  Ahvcivs  •   IIfrmes  •  in  •  hoc 

ORDINE    •     AB    •    IMO    •    AD    •    8YMMVM 
COLVMBARIA    •    IX    •    OLLAE    •    XVIII 


times  the  names  on 
the  ollae  do  not  cor- 
respond   with    that 


SIBI    •    POSTERISQVK    •    SVIS 


over     the     niche, 

showing  that  the  owner  had  sold  a  part  only  of  his  holdings, 

^Titulus  in  Cohiinbariuni :  "Lucius  Abuoius  Hermes  (has 
acquired)  in  this  row,  running  from  tlie  ground  to  tlie  top,  nine 
niches  witli  eigliteen  urns  for  (the  aslies  of)  himself  and  his 
descendants." 


326 


THK    PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    THE    ROMANS 


HrUlAL-rLACES    AND    FUNERAL    CEREMONIES 


327 


or  that  the  purchaser  had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  replace  the 
fiffdus.  The  expenses  of  maintenance  were  probably  paid 
from  the  weekly  dues  of  the  members,  as  were  the  funeral 

benefits. 
432        Funeral  Ceremonies.— The  detailed   accounts  of  funeral 
ceremonies  that  have  come  down   to  us  rehite  almost   exclu- 
sively to  those  of  persons  of  high  position,  and  the  informa- 
tion gleaned  from  other  sources   (§12)  is  so  scattered  that 
there'^is  great  danger  of  confusing  usages  of  widely  different 
times.      It    is    quite     certain,    however,    that    very    young 
children  were  buried  at  all  times  simply  and  (juietly  {fujuis^ 
acerhum),  that  no  ceremonies  at  all  attended   the  burial  of 
slaves  (§4:^0   when  conducted  by  tlieir   masters  (nothing  is 
known  of  the  forms  used  by  the  burial  societies  mentioned 
above),    and  that  citizens  of  the  lowest   class  were  laid   to 
rest   without   public   jiarade   {faiius  prehe'nim).      It   is   also 
known  that  burials  took   pUice  by  night   except  during  the 
'      last  century  of  the  liepublic  and  the  first  two  centuries  of 
the  Empire,  and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  th.it,  even  in  the 
case  of  persons  of  high  position,  there  was  ordinarily  much 
less  of  pomi)  and  parade   than  on  occasions  that  the  Iioman 
writers  thought   it  worth  while  to  describe.     This   has   been 
found  true  in  the  matter  of  w^edding  festivities  (;^T0).     It 
will  be  convenient   to  take  in  order  the  proceedings  at  the 
house,  the  funeral   procession,  and   the   ceremonies  at  the 

place  of  burial. 
433  At  the  House.  — When  the  Iioman  died  at  home  sur- 
rounded by  his  family,  it  was  the  duty  of  his  oldest  son  to 
bend  over  the  body  and  call  him  by  name,  as  if  with  the 
hope  of  recalling  him  to  life.  The  formal  performance  of 
the  act  {coudamatid)  he  announced  immediately  with  the 
words:  conrhlmilfum  est.  The  eyes  of  the  dead  were  then 
closed,  the  body  was  washed  with  warm  water  and 
anointed,  the  limbs  were  straightened,  and  if  the  deceased  had 
held  a  curule  otiice  a  wax  impression  of  his  features  was  taken. 


1  1   Wi   fbp  toP-a  (iJ240)  with  all  the 

in  <tj^te  unt  1  tlie  time  ot  tiie  lunciai.      xix  ,      ,       .    •. 

,Xl  "^tl,  .l...-er,,   an.l    .........c   wa.   ta,.™,!    about  it 

B :  r  .ho  oo,„.  „<  a„  h„,„c  «e,.e  so,  ^-'T^jz: 

,.,.;,..r  ilvjt  the  house  was  poiiutecl   by  aeaui. 
cypress  as  a  ^^^^^l^'^,^,^^^,,  aescribed  were  perfon.ed 
The  simple  olhees  that   liaM  uitu 
inlunuble  life  by  the  relatives  and  servants,  in  otho.  ca.es 

'"  '>""  '^^\  '"  ,     ^     .,.f..k."rs  UWitluCu-rt),  who  also  embalmed 
i.x'  in-(>fp^su)nal  undertakeis  ytuutniu  n  j-, 

■r»ovQ<^n  iis  he  breatlieu   nis  lasL,  dc?  ix   ^ 

b  .  It    n  the  month  of  the  living,  and  lu  very  early  an 

vevyt  times  it  was  undoubtedly  the  custo.n  to  put  a  small 
ttw  e"    the  teeth  of  the  dead  with  whic.h  to  pay  his  pas- 
::  .h    St  ■     in  Charon-,  boat.   Neither  of  these  for- 

fut:^  "eems  to  have  obtained  generally  in  .la.sieal  tnn.s. 
The  Funeral  Procession. -The  funeral  procession  ol  the  434 
„,ahm.v  eitizen  was  simple  enough.      Notice  was  given  to 
X    and   friends,  and   surronnded  by  them  and  by  the 
n       .arried  on   the  shonlders  of   the  sons  or  other  nar 
i v'es,  with  perhaps  a  band  of  musicians  m  t  .e  lead    the 
iLv  wa    bo,-ne  to  the  tomb.     The  proc-ess.on  of  one  of  the 
n  hity,  on  the  other  han.l,  was  marshaled  with  all  possible 
d  "pi      and  ostentation.     It  occurred  as  soon  alter  death  as 
t   lessarv  preparations  could  be  made,  there  benrg  no 
ti.ed    ntervening  time,     ^'otiee  was  given  by  a  P"  -1-  em- 
•rthe  ancient   words  of   style:     OJU.    Q>nn.   leto  <la.s 
Erscnnd^,  '{"ib^s  est  conwwdnm,  Ire  mm  te>»pus  est.       >//»■ 

tin.l  it  oouvenient  it  is  now  time  to  attend  tlie  funeral.     He  .>  being 
brought  from  his  liouse." 


328 


THE    PRIVATE    LIFE    UK    THE    ROMANS 


were  settled  by  one  of  tlie  undertjikers  (f/esu/ndlor).     At  the 
heud  went  a  baud  of  musicians,  followed  at  least  occasionally 
by  persons  singing  dirges  in  praise  of  the  dead,  and  by  bands 
of  buffoons  and  jesters,  who  made  merry  with  the  bystaiiders 
and  imitated  even  the  dead  himself.      Then  came  the  impos- 
ing part  of  the  display.     The  wax  masks  of  the  dead  man's 
ancestors  had  been  taken  from  their  place  in  the  dlae  (§2U()) 
and    assumed    by  actors    in    the   dress   appropriate    to   the 
time  and  station  of  the  worthies  they  represented.      It  must 
have  seemed  as  if  the  ancient  dead   had  returned  to  earth  to 
guide  their  descendant  to  his  place  among  ihem.   Servius  tells 
us  that  six  hundred  inuluines  were  displayed  at  the  funeral 
of  the    young    Marcellus,  the  nephew  of  Augustus.     Then 
followed  the  memoi  ials  of  the  great  deeds  of  the  deceased, 
if  he  had  been  a  general,  as  in  a  triumphal  procession,  and 
then  the   dead   himself,   cariied   with   face   uncovered  on   a 
lofty  couch.      Then    came  the  family,    including  freedmen 
(especially  those  made  free  by  the  testament  of  their  master) 
and    slaves,   and    then   the  friends,    all    in    mourning   garb 
(gS-240,  254),  and  all  freely  giving  expression  to  the  emotion 
that  we   try  to  suppress  on  such  occasions.     Torch-bearers 
attended  the  train,  even  by  day,  as  a  remembrance  of  the 
older  custom  of  burial  bv  ni^ht. 
435        The  Funeral  Oration. — 'J'he  procession  passed  from  tlio 
house  directly  to  the  place  of  interment,  unless  the  deceased 
was   a  person   of   sufficient   consequence  to  be  honored   hy 
public  authority  with   a  funeral  oration    {lauddtio)    in  the 
forum.     In  this  case  the  funeral  couch  was  placed  l)efore  the 
roxfni,  the  men  in   the  masks  took  their  places  on  curnlo 
chairs  (§"^"25)  around  it,  the  general  crowd  was  massed  in  a 
semicircle  behind,  and  a  son  or  other  near  relative  delivered 
the  address.      It  recited  the  virtues  and  achievements  of  the 
dead  ami   i-ecounted   the  history  of  the  family  to  which   he 
belonged.     Like   surh    addresses    in    more    recent    times   it 
contained   nnicii   that  wns  false  and   more  that  was  exagger- 


KUKl.VL-l'LACKS    AND    inNERAI.    OERKMONIKS. 


329 


•ited  The  honor  of  the  htnddtid  was  freely  given  in  later 
times,  especially  to  members  of  the  imperial  family,  including 
women  I'nder  the  Republic  it  was  less  common  and  more 
highly  prized,  and  so  far  as  we  know  the  only  women  so 
bonored  belonged  to  the  yens  Ifdia.  It  will  be  remendoerecl 
that  it  was  Caesar's  address  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of 
his  aunt,  the  widow  of  Sarins,  that  pointed  him  out  to  the 
oppoiu'nts  of  Sulla  as  a  future  leader.  When  the  address  ni 
the  forum  was  not  authorized,  one  was  sometimes  given  more 
privately  at  tlie  grave  or  at  the  house. 

At  the  Tomb.— When  the   train   reached    the   place  of 436 
burial  the  proceedings  varied  according  to  the  time,  but  all 
provided  for  the  three  things  ceremonially  necessary:  the 
consecration  of  the  resting-place,  the  casting  of  earth  upon 
the  remains,  and  the  purification  of  all  polluted  by  the  death. 
In  ancient  times  the  body,  if  l)uried,  was  lowered   into  the 
grave  either  upon  the  couch  on  which  it  had  been  brought 
to  the  spot,  or  in  a  coffin  of  burnt  clay  or  stone.    If  the  body 
was  to  be  burned  a  shallow  grave  was  dug  and  filled  with  dry 
wood,  upon  which  the  couch  and  body  were  placed.     The 
I)ilo  was   then  fired   and   when    wood  and   body  had    l)een 
consunu^d,  earth  was  heaped  over  tlu^  ashes  into  a  mouTid 
{funudns).     Such  a  grave   in   which  the  body  was  burned 
was  called  bmtum,  and  was  consecrated  as  a  regular  sepul- 
crum  by  the  ceremonies  mentioned  below.     In  later  times 
the  bodv,  if  not  to  be  burned,  was  placed  in  a  sarcophagus 
(Fig.   -lOo)  already  prepared  iti  the    tomb   (§4.^5).      If    the 
remains  were  to  be  burned  they  were  taken  to  the  astrlna 
(§4-2(;),  which  was  not  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  svpuhrnni, 
and    placed   upon   the  pile   of   wood    {rogux).     Spices    and 
perfumes  were  thrown  upon   it,  together  with   gii'ts   (§4-2.5) 
and  tokens  from  the  persons  jtre^ent.     'i'he  pyre  was  then 
lighted  with  a  torch  by  a  relative,  who  kept   liis  face  averted 
during  the  act.      After  the  fire  had  l)urned  out  the  embers 
were  "extinguished   with   water  or   wine   and   those  present 


330 


THE    PKIVATK    LIVE    OK    THE    ROMANS 


culled  a  lust  farewell  to  the  dead.  The  water  of  purifica- 
tion was  then  thrice  sprinkletl  over  those  present,  and  all 
except  the  immeiliute  family  left  the  place.  The  ashes  were 
then  collected  in  a  cloth  to  be  dried,  and  the  ceremonial 
bone  (S-t'-i*'),  called  o-s  resectum,  was  buried.  A  sacritice  of 
a  pig  was  then  made,  by  which  the  place  of  burial  was 
made  sacred  ground,  and  food  {silircrnlum)  was  eaten  together 
bv  the  mourners.  They  then  returned  to  the  house  which 
was  purified  by  an  offering  to  the  Lares,  and  the   funeral 

lites  were  over. 

437        After  Csremonies.— With  the  day  of  the  burial  or  burning 
of  the  remains  began  the  Nine   Days  of  Sorrow,  solemnly 
observed  bv  the  immediate  family.     Some  time  during  tins 
period,  when   the   ashes  had   had   time  to  dry  thoroughly, 
members   of   the   family    went     privately     to    the     ustrlna, 
removed  them  from  the  cloth,  placed  them  in  an  uUa  (Fig. 
•2(14)  of  earthenware,  glas-^,  alabaster,  bronze,  or  other  mate- 
rial, and  with   bare  feet  and  loosened  girdles  carried  them 
into  the  scpnlrrnm  (j-l-io).     At  the  end  of  the  nine  days  the 
ndcrlfiritim   novemlidle  was  offered  to  the  dead  and  the  ceim 
wirendifdh  was  celebrated  at  the  house.       On  this  day,  too, 
the  heirs  formally  entered  upon  their  inheritance  and  the 
funeral  games  (§:U4)  were  originally  given.     The  period  of 
mourning,  however,  was  not  concluded  on  the  ninth  day. 
For  husband  or  wife,  ascendants,  and  grown   descendants 
mourning  was  worn  for  ten  months,  the  ancient  year;  for 
other  adult  relatives,  eight  months;    for  children  l)etween 
the  ages  of  three  and  ten  years,  for  as  many  months    as 
they  were  years  old. 

438  Memorial  Festivals.— The  memory  of  the  dead  was  kept 
alive  by  regularly  recurring  days  of  obligation  of  both  public 
and  private  character.  To  the  former  belong  the  parcuUlUa, 
or  dies  paveiifdUs  (§75),  lasting  from  the  13th  to  the  x'lst  of 
February,  the  tiual  day  being  especially  distinguished  as  tlie 
ferdliii.     To  the  latter  belong  the  annual  celebration  of  the 


r.UKIAL-I'I.A('KS    ANP    FUNERAL    CKRKMOKIKS 


331 


l,i,thdav  (or  the  burial-day)  of  the  person  commemorated 
,  th;    estivals  of  violets  and   roses    (nolana    rosar.a), 
,,  the  end  of  Marcl>  and  May  respect.vely,  -hen  vu.lets 

and  roses  were  distributed  among  the  relatives  and  laid  upon 


FiGUKK  ii«>5.    Hadrian^s  Tomb 


^         \^   ..A^ov  tlio  ^^ru^      On  Jill  these  occasions 
the  trriives  or  heaped  o\ei  the  urns,      v/n  a  .      .  .^ 

offerings  were  made  in  the  temples  to  the  gods  and  at  the 
tombs  to  the  v>d.es  of  the  dead,  and  the  lamps  were  hght.d 
in  the  tou.bs  (g-f2.5),  and  at  the  tombs  the  relatives  fea.ted 
together  and  offered  food  to  their  dead  (§426) . 


INDEX 


References  are  lu  Piiragraphs.     Au  asterisk  denotes  a  out. 


a  manti,  391. 

abacus,  reckoning  board>  111*;  panels 

m  wall   decorations,   220;    sideboard, 

r27,  807*. 

AUBREY  lATTONS  111  Iiauies,  41. 

ab  ep  is  tolls,  391. 
abolla,  cloak,  '249*. 
ab  ovo  ad  mala,  308. 
ACTORS,  slave,  men  only,  324. 

ad  fmalam)  crucem,  174. 

ADDITIONAL  names.  51. 

ADDRESS  of  letters,  392. 

adfines,  blood  relations,  26. 

ADJUSTABLE  tables,  227*. 

adoptio,  see  adoption. 

ADOPTION,   two  kinds,   29;   of  a  filius 

familias,  30;  of  a  pater  familias,  30; 

name  given  adopted  i)erson,  52,  56. 
adrogatio,  see  adoption. 
adversitores,  152. 
advertisements  of  gladiators,  361*. 
aediculae,  in  columbaria,  429*. 
affection   for   nurses,    101;    for  peda- 
gogues, 123. 
agger  viae,  387. 
agitatores,  drivers  of  chariots,  341.   See 

aurigae. 
agnati,  related  through  males,  23. 
agriculture,    honorable    occupation, 

404. 
alae,  in  house,  191 ;  later.  200 
alieno  lure  subiectus,  17. 
alveus,  in  bath,  369*. 
amictus,  outer  garments,  240*249*. 
amphitheater,  meaning  of  word,  351 ; 

early  at  Rome,  3.52;  at  Pomi)eii,  3.53*. 

354*,  355*;  the  coliseum.  356--,  357*,  358*. 
ampbitheatrum,  see  amphitheater. 
amphorae,  for  wine,  297*. 
amurca,  bitter  fluid  of  olives,  291. 


AMUSEMENTS,  Chap.  IX.  See  Table  of 
Contents. 

andaoatae,  blindfold  gladiators,  359. 

andron,  fornurly    called   fauces,    192 
note. 

Andronicus,  113. 

anteambulones,  outriders,  151. 

antecena,  appetizer,  308. 

ANTIQUITIES,  pubUc  aud  private  dis- 
tinguished, 2;  and  history,  4;  private 
defined,  1;  in  philology.  6,  7;  recent 
interest,  8. 

apodyterium,  366;  makeshift  for,  367: 
usually  unheated,  368;  one  heated, 
378*;  in  thermae,  376*.  r^77*. 

APPiAN  WAY,  as  bmial-j^lace,  421;  con- 
struction, 385  f. 

APPRENTICESHIP  in  educatiou,  117. 

arbiter  bibendi,  toast  master,  313. 

area,  strong  box,  188^  201.  230* 

Archias.  name  explained,  60. 

area,  ground  for  tomb,  426. 

arena,  circus,  330*,  332;  amphitheater 
(Pompeii)  3.54*,  (Rome)  357*. 

ARITHMETIC,  in  the  schools,  111*. 

armaria,  cabinets,  23 1. 

ARMY,  as  a  career,  (foi  nobles)  408,  (for 
commons)  410. 

ARRANGEMENT  of  hair,  263;  of  hair  of 
bride,  78;  of  couches  in  dining-room, 
304*. 

ATHENS,  university  of  Rome,  116. 

athletic;  sports  and  games,  316*,  317*, 
318*. 

atriensis,  butler,  149. 

atrium,  m  primitive  house.  188;  mean- 
ing. 1H9;  the  develoj^d  atrium,  196. 
197,  198*:  burial  place  of  Head  of  House, 
421. 

Atticus.  1.55,  300.  310,  399. 

auctoratl,  voluuteei  gladiators,  347. 


4 


r. 


INDEX 


References  are  to  Paragraphs     An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut 


333 


aulaea  portieres,  216. 

aurigae,   chariot    drivers,   (Figs.    138. 

142).  341*,  342. 

B 


s 


BAKERIES,  286*. 

BAKERS,  as  a  guild,  286. 

BALL  playedby  Children.  102*;  by  men. 

318* 
balneae,  meaning,  372.    See  Baths. 
balneaticum,  bath  fee,  373. 
balneum,  meaning,  372.    See  Baths. 
BANRiN<i,  as  profession,  412. 

BANQUETS,  315. 

B A  H 1 . E  [i  shops,  253. 

BAKRIKUS,  in  circus,  330*.  33:^*. 

basterna,  litter  drawn  by  mules,  382. 

BATH,  in  early  times,  365;  public  and 
private,  365;  essentials  for,  366:  rooms 
co.nl'ined,  367:  heating,  368;  caldari- 

uni,  369;  frigidarium,  370;  unctori- 

um,     370,      private    bathhouse,    371*; 

public  baths,  372;    time  openeu,  374; 

fees,  373;  for  women,  375;  thermae, 

37()*,  377*. 
BATHHOUSE,  in  Caerweut.  371*:  in  Pom- 

pt  ii,  376*;  in  Rome,  377*. 
BA'iHROOMS,  in  residences,  203,  367,  371*. 
BEANS,  considered  heavy  food,  275. 
BEARDS,  fashions  in,  254. 
BEEF,  rarely  use  I.  277. 
Benoist.  his  detinition  of  Philology,  6. 

BETROTHALS.  70.       . 
BEVERAGES,  298. 

bibliotheca,  206,  402. 

BiJ.LSof  fare,  308,  309. 

BOOKS,  ancient  foinis,  393;    materials, 

394,  395;  making,   39o;    finish  of,   397; 

size. 398;  publishing,  399,  400;  cost,  401 ; 

libraries,  402. 
*  B(  )oKS,"  divisions  of  literary  v^'ork,  398. 
BOXES,  in  theater,  3-27;  in  circus,  334;  in 

amphitheater,  353. 
BC  Y,  named,  97;  home  training,  104,  106; 

athletics,  107;  education,  see  school; 

C(*ming  of  age,  125;  given  citizenship, 

128. 
bracatae,  wearing  trousers,  230. 

BK^ZIKRS.  218* 

BR'-L'VD,  286  f. ;  making  287;  kinds  of,  2«8. 
•'Bread  and  theGamesof  the  Circus,  "322. 


BREAKFAST,  3  2. 

HREAKINC  promise  of  marriage,  71 

BRICKS,  212*. 

bulla,  99*. 

HUiUAL-places  anil  ceremonies,  Chapter 
XII.     See  Table  of  Contents. 

HURIAL  SOCIETIES,  430. 

HUSINESS  rooms  added  to  houses,  1©3: 

interests  at  Rome,  413. 
liUTTEK.  not  a  food,  281. 


c 

CABINETS,  231. 

calamus  (scriptorius),  395. 
calceator,  150. 

calcei,  251*,  262;  senatorii,  25i;  pa- 
trieii,  251. 

caldarlum,  366;  near  furnace.  ?68;  fur- 
niture, ;:;69:  other  uses  of,  :^69;  in plan.s, 
371*.  376*,  378*. 

caligae,  half-boots,  25!. 

calx,  in  circus,  331*. 
camiUus,  82*. 
campus  Martius,  317. 
candelabra,  229. 

CANDIDATES'  drcss,  23^^,  246. 

candldati,  246. 

CANDLES,  ill  made,  229. 

CAP,  of  liberty,  175*.  252. 

CAPITALISTS,  their  held,  409,  413. 

capsa,  397*. 

capsarius,  370. 

Carac.illa.  hall  in  baths  of,  365*. 

cara  cognatio,  feast  of,  25. 

carceres,  in  circus,  330*,  333*. 

carnifex,  term  of  abuse,  174. 

carpentum,  traveling  carriage,  38;i*. 

carriages,  for  travel,  38:?*. 

cariica,  sleeping  car,  383. 

casa  Romuli,  214*. 

cathedra,  easy  chair,  226*. 

catillus,  outer  part  of  mill,  264*. 

Ciito  (234-U9),  treatment  of  slaves,  159; 
opinionof  cabbage,  275;  word  for  din- 
ner, 312. 

causia,  hat,  252*. 

cavea,  in  theater,  327;  in  circus,  337;  in 
ami^hitheater  (Pomi>eii).  3.53*,  (Rome) 
358*. 

cavum  aedium,  196. 

I  CEiLiNos,  e(mstructi(m,  213 


332 


334 


I! 


I! 


I 


^ 


INDEX 


References  ;ire  to  PjiniK^'iip^^-    An  asterisk  denotes  a  eut. 


INDEX 


335 


cellae,  servorum,  207;  vinariae,  2^»7*; 
oleariae,  '-iy^*- 

cena,  iu  early  times,  3U1;  in  the  city, 
H()i-311;  lumrs,  r03;  importance  in  so- 
cial life,  8<'3;  bills  of  fare.  808,  809:  serv- 
ice, 310, 811:  libera,  362:  nuptialis.  85. 

cena,    'dinner  proper,"  308. 

cenotaphium,  emilty  tomb,  419. 

centenarius,  winner  of  100  races.  340. 

cepotaphium,  tomb  with  grounds.  42f>. 

cera,  for  sealing  letter,  302. 

cerasus,  cherry.  274. 

CEREALS  for  food.  282. 

Cestius,  tomb  of.  (419*),  427. 

CHAIRS,  225*,  226*. 

CHALKED  FEET,  189. 

CHARIOT  RACES,  880  f. :  number  of  char- 
iots, 8:'>8;  racing  syndicates,  889;  teams 
340;  drivers.  8tl. 

charta,  paper,  see  papyrus. 


CHEESE,   281. 
CHESTS,  280*. 

CHILDHOOD,  see  CHILDREN;  end  of,  12.'). 
CHILDLESSNESS,  a  reproach.  28. 
CHILDREN,  rightsof,  seepotestas;  prop- 
erty of,  see  peculium;  civil  position 

of,  69,  94;  acknowledgment  of.  95;  ex- 
posure of ,  96;  maiming  of,  96;  games, 
etc.,  102,  103;  home  training,  104;  pun- 
ishment of,  120*.  121;  in  the  dining- 
room,  804;  burial  of  young  children, 

420. 

Chrysogonus  and  Roscius,  408. 

CHURCH,  like  Roman  house,  191. 

Cicero  (106-48),  number  of  his  slaves, 
155;  names  of  his  freedmen,  59;  good- 
ness to  slaves,  1;,8;  his  books,  399,  402: 
income,  407. 

CINERARY  urns,  189*,  428,  437*. 

ciniflones,  hairdressers,  150. 

i  IRCUS  at  Rome,  328  f . ;  plan,  i^l^O*: 
arena,  832*:  carceres,  333*,  884*: 
spina,  metae,  885*.  886*;  seats,  887*; 
capacity,  388;  races  iu,  339  f. 

circus  Flaminius,  329. 

circus  Maxentii,  829;  plan  of,  330*: 
arena,  332:  obelisk  in,  386;  seating 
capacity,  388. 

circus  Maximus,  828;  missus  in,  332; 
spina  in,  \VMi;  obelisk  in  386*;  seats  in, 
•.v:,7.  :«8*;  reconstruction,  888*. 


Cisium,  two- wheeled  cart,  384*. 

<"iviL  servi<.;e,  414. 

clepsydra,  water-clock,  282. 

clientela,  clientage,  177. 

CLIENTS,  Chap.  V.     See  Table  of  Cod 
tents. 

CLIMATE  of  Italy,  272. 

(BLOCKS,  282. 

CLOTHING,  Chap.  VII.  See  Table  of  Con- 
tents; colors  worn.  270;  manufacture 
of,  -m  :  cleaning,  271*. 

codicilli,  set  of  writing  tablets,  391*. 

coemptid,  plebeian  form  of  marriage, 
6;i:  implying  manus,  66;  ceremony  of, 

83. 
COFFINS,  425,  486*. 
cociNATEs,     defined,     25;      imix)rtance 

among  plebeians,  (»;  degrees  between, 

1      2\  68. 

cognati,  see  cognates. 

cognatio,  see  cociNA  tes. 

cognomen,  before  nomen,  40;  marking 

family,  48;    age  of,  49:  nickname.  49; 

indication  of  lineage,  50;  ex  virtute, 

53;    ilitTering  in  same  family,  55;   as 

fourth  element  in  name,  55. 
COLISEUM,  date  of,  352;  plan,  356* :  arena 

8o7*:  seats.  8.58*. 
collegia,  fCineraticia,  iuvenum,  salu 

taria,  4;^o. 

COLONIES.  411. 

COLORS,  of  articles  of  dress.  270;  of  rac 

ing  syndicates,  .839. 
columbaria,  428*-43i*. 

COMIC   OPERAS,  328. 
COMMER(  E,  418. 

comissatio,  drinking  bout,  812*. 
COMMON  PEOPLE,  employments  of,  4101. 
compluvium,  188,  191,  196,  198. 
compotatio,  ilrinking  bout,  312*,  313. 
conclamatio,  cry  of  farewell.  4:^3. 
c;oNCRETE,  extensive  use,  146;   inethoit 

of  making,  21 1*;  in  roads,  887. 
conductor,  manager  of  baths,  373. 
confarreatio,    61:     religious      aspect, 

64:  implying  manus,  ^^;  ceremony  of. 

81. 
CONFISCATION  of  property,  408. 
c^oNFUSioN  of  names,  55. 
(CONSENT  necessary  to  marriage,  74. 
Constantius  (Emperor  b.87-361  a.d.),  338. 


References  are  to  Paragraphs.     An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut 


CONSTRUCTION  of    liouse,  210*  f. ;   mill 

'.i84*:  roads,  887*. 
contubernia,  uni<msof  slaves,  188.  lo6. 
conventio  in  manum.   8.:  cum  con-  | 

ventione,  6i :  sine  conventione,  o..  ! 
convivia,  dinners,  312;  comvivia  tem- 

pestiva,  8io. 
(-OOKS,  hired  in  early  times.  299. 
Cornelii,  buried  their  dead,  420. 
coronae  convivales,  8i3. 

CORKESPONDENCE.  89l. 

COST,  Of  baths,  373:  books.  401:  meals 
(inns),  888;  slaves,  140:  tables,  22.: 
wines.  2^)8. 

COTTON  goods,  269. 

corcHES,   sofas  or  beds,  224*;    dnung. 

804* 
COVERlNC^s    for    the    head,    men,    2.52*; 

W(  )men,  263. 
covlnus,  two-wheeled  cart,  884. 
(Tassus.  in  salvage  busine.s.s,  418. 
crater,  mixing  bowl,  814*. 
cki:mati<»n,  introduced  at  Rome.  4->0. 
crepundia.  child's  rattle,  98*. 
Crescens,  famous  driver,  342. 
CRIMSON  or  i)urple,  270. 
CRX^tTFixioN  of  slaves.  173. 
cubicula,  bedrooms,  •:05. 
CUCUllUS,  hood.  247,  248,  252. 
culina,  kitchen.  208*. 
cumerus,82*. 

cunei,  in  theater,  327;  circus.  887. 
curatores,  of  burial  societies,  4:^0. 
Curium  :ind  his  dinner,  297. 

curriculum,  hip  in  i''^<^*^-  '^'^^ 
curtain  in  later  theater,  327. 
crnULE  chair,  225*. 
cyathus,  ladle,  814*. 
CYPHER  correspondence.  :^0. 
CYPRESS,  as  emblem  of  death,  4:^:^. 

D 


D.\IRY  l)rodUCts,  281. 
DANCERS.  1.58. 

dator  ludorum,  giver  of  games,  334. 
DAY.  a  Roman's.  415. 
declamatid,  public  speaking,  115. 
i)ECORATloNofhouses,220f.;  walls,  "220*; 

doors,  221*;  floors.  221*:  <>f  tombs,  425*. 

428*.  4:U)*. 

decuriae,  of  slaves.  i8:i 


defrutum,  grape  jelly,  296. 
delphica  •  mensa  • ,  227*. 
designator,  funeral  director,  484. 
desultores,  circus  riders,  84;^. 
DEVELOPMENT  of  the  house.  188*. 
dextrarum  iunctio,  in  marriage,  81* 
DICE,  gaming  with,  8-il*. 
dies,  lustricus.^7:  parentales,  T5. 488; 

religiosi,  7.5. 
dimachaerl,      gladiators     with      two 

swords.  859. 

DINING-ROOM,  204,  804*. 

DINNEK.  in  the  city,  80:i-8H  :  early  times, 
301;  hour,  810:  bill  of  fare,  809;  (»rder 
of  courses,  3.8;  places  of  hcmor,  306. 

Diocletian  (Emperor  284-805  a.d.  >  baths 

of,  878*. 
discus,  throwing  the,  816*. 
dispensator,  steward,  149. 
districtarium,  in  baths.  81)7,  876*. 
diurna  cubicula,  205. 

DIVORCE,  72,  98. 

DOG,  as  pet,  103;  in  hallway.  195*. 

dolia,  for  oil.  21*2*:  for  wine,  297. 

dominica  potestas,  87. 

dominus  gregis,  head  actor.  324. 

Domitian  (Hmpcror  81-96  A.D.) ,  339. 

domus,  1^6:  see  HorsE. 

DOORS,  c<mstruction,  215*f.;  names,  216. 

dormit5ria,  205. 
dorsum,  top  course  in  road,  387. 
dOS,  dowry,  72. 
DOWRY,  72. 

DRAMATK   performances,  323  f. 
DRESS,  Chap.   VII.      See  Table  of  Con- 
tents. 
DRINKING  bouts,  81-2*. 

DRIVERS,  chariot  races,  341*. 
ducenarius,  horse  of  200  victories,  340 
DWARFS,  kept  for  amusement,  153. 

E 

"EARLY   DINNERS."  310. 

EARLY  FORMS,  of  marriage,  61 ;  of  names, 
H8,  57,  58;  of  table  customs,  t-99;  of 
toga,  245;  of  theater,  825;  of  baths,  365; 
of  gladiatorial  shows,  845. 

EARLY  HOURS  at  Rome.  79,  41.5. 

EARS  of  slaves  bored,  189. 

EDUCATION,  Chap.   IV.     See   Table    of 
Contents. 


r   ■  J 


336 


INDKX 


INDEX 


33' 


ill 


Mh  ^ 


1  !      ' 


Kefeiviices  are  to  Parai^^raphs.     An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 


ELM  TRKK.  for  grapes, -JOo:  fcr  switclies. 

167:  "essence  of  elm,"  16H. 
editor  munerum,  giver  <>f  gladiatorial 

show.  30-i 
ELOCUTION  in  schools,  114. 
EMANCIPATION,  of  a  son,  IH:  of  a  slave. 

175. 
endormis,  bath  robe,  249. 
EN(;A(iEMKNrs,  marriage.  71. 
EPnatAPHic  sources,  10. 
epityrum,  olive  salad.  29(). 
equites,  career  of.  409. 
EKKoKS  in  manuscrii)t  books.  1*79. 
Esquiline  Hill,  as  burial-piace,  4-^3. 
essedarii,  chariot  fighters,  859:  spelled 

assidarii,  868. 

EssKNTtALS  for  the  bath,  866:  for  burial. 

43e). 
KXA(a;KHATioN  in  satire.  94. 
ex  cathedra,  oftlcial  utterance.  •3-26. 
exedrae,  reception  halls,  207. 
exp5nere,  "expose,"  of  children.  95. 
EXPOSURE    of    children,   32,   95:    slaves, 

157. 
exta,  of  the  sacritices,  277. 
EXTINCTION  of  the  potestas,  84:  '»f  Ji 

family,  30.    See  adoption. 


f.,   abbreviation    in  names,   89,   57:    for 
fUgitlVUS.  172. 

fabulae  palliatae.  823 
faces,  torches  kept  in  doorways,  229     - 
factiones,  racing  syndicates,  889. 
familia,  meanings,  17,  21  :=Stirps,  22: 

gladiatoria,  849;  rustica,    142,   145; 
urbana,  149. 

FAMILY,   C^hap.   I.      See  Table  of    Con- 
tents; detined,  17:  si)litting  up  of,  19; 

cult,  27. 
FANS.  2G6*. 

far,  early  sort  of  grain,  2R2. 
FARMING  of  revenues,  409. 
FARM  slaves,  see  familia  rustica;  work, 

148.  I 

fasciae,  wrappings  of  cloth.  289.  i 

fascinatio,  evil  eye,  98.  99.  | 

fascis,  a  .set  of  books,  897. 
FASTENINCJS  for  door.s,  216.  | 

FATHER,  see  pater  familia 8 ;  as  com- 
panion  of  his  .sons,  106.  | 


fauces,  in  a  house,  192,  note. 
FKKs.  ill  schools,  109,  119;  baths,  878. 
feliciter,  in  congratulations,  82. 
feminalia,  wrappings  for  legs,  289. 
fenestrae,  windows.  2i7*. 
feralia,  488. 
Fescinnini  versiis,  87. 
FESTIVALS,  cara  cognatio,  25;  feralia, 
438:  matronalia,  91:  liberalia,_i27: 
rosaria,  48S;  Saturnalia,  8i9;  vina- 
lia  rustica,  29r);  violaria,  488. 
FESTIVITIES,   wedding.    80,    85,    86,    89; 

coming  of  age.  127. 
FIREMEN,  slaves  as.  141 
FISH,  as  food,  280. 
fistuca,  heavy  rammer,  218. 
flabellum,  fan,  266*. 
flagrum,  scourge,  167*. 
flammeum,  bridal  veil.  77*. 
Flavium  amphitheatrum,    see    col- 
iseum. 
FLOORS,  constructicm,  218. 
FLOWERS,  at  feasts,  818;  at  tombs,  438. 
focalia,  wrappings  for  throat,  289. 
foculi,  heating  stoves,  218*. 
foUes,  balls  lilled  with  air,  818*. 
FOOD,  Chap.    VIII.     See  Table  of  Con- 
tents. 
FoRRioDEN  J)Ec;rees  of  kinship,  25,  68. 
fores,  double  doors,  195,  216. 
FORKS,  not  used,  299. 
forum,  place  of  early  shows,  851. 
FOUNDLINGS,  fate  of,  96. 
FOWLS,  domestic,  279. 
FREEDMAN,  name,   59;    relation  to  pa- 
tron. 175. 
frigidarium,  866;  other  uses,  8t)7;  posi- 
tion, 868;  furnishings.  87();  shown  on 
plans,  871*,  376*,  377*. 
fritillus,  dice  box,  321. 
frontes,  of  papyrus  rolls,  897. 
FRurrs,  known  to  Romans.  274. 
frvimentum,  grain,  2H2,  and  note, 
fugitivi,  172 


fullones,  as  cleaners,  271*. 
FUNERAL  games,  344,  845;    ceremonies, 
Chap.  XII.    See  Table  of  Contents. 

funus,  acerbum,  plebeium,  i82. 
furca,  as  punishment,  169 
FURNACE   for    houses,    218;    for    baths, 
3i>8. 


f^  -PMri^frranhs     An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 
References  are  to  Paragrapus.    ^^  <^>^ 


FURNITURE,  222  f . ;  modern  lacking,  -^3, 
couches,  224*;  chairs,  :.>25*;  tables,  2..*; 
lamps,  228*;  chests  and  cabmets,  :.80  , 
other  articles,  282. 


G 


Gaius,  meaning,  44,  81;  as  a  noraen,  55, 

81 ;  in  the  nrarriage  ceremony,  81,  88. 
GAME,  wild,  for  table,  279. 
GAMES,  of  children,  103,  320*;  public  and 
private,  see  amusements.  Chap.  IX; 
of  ball  for  men.  818*;  of  chance,  819*, 
320*,  821*,  funeral,  344,  345. 
GARDEN,  behind  the  peristyle,  202;  prod- 
uce, 275,  276. 
GARLANDS  wom  by  slaves,  134;  by  bride 
and  groom,  78;     by   women,  264;    at 
feasts  by  men.  813. 
GEESE  as  pets,  108*. 
gens,  theory  of,  22;  marked  by  nomen, 

49 ;  burial-places  of,  422. 
gentiles,  22;    at  the  confarreate  cere- 
mony, 81*. 

"GENTLEMEN'S  DINNERS,"  212  f. 

GIRL,  named,  97;  home  training,  104. 
105;  married  at  early  age,  67, 105;  ad- 
mitted to  schools,  109. 

GLADIATORS,  344  f . ;  in  Etruria  and 
Campania,  344 ;  first  shows  at  Rome, 
345;  in  theory  private  shows,  345; 
numbers  exhibited,  346;  whence  ob- 
tained, 347;  innocent  and  guilty,  318: 
training,  349;  fashions  and  tactics.  859: 
armor,  360;  the  light,  362;  rewards, 
363;  bravos  and  bullies,  346. 
GLASS,    for    windows,     217;    balls    for 

hands,  266. 
gradus,  rows  of  seats,   387;    of    urns, 

428. 

GRAMMAR  schools,  112. 

grammaticus,  of  a  teacher,  112. 
GRAPES,  298;    where    grown,   294;    how 

growTi,  295;  jelly,  296. 
f:REEK,   place  in  schools,    112;    nurses. 

101;  teachers,  115;  taught  to  children, 

iOl,  116,  128. 
GROUNDS,  about  tombs,  426*. 
GUARDIANS,  of  woiueu,  19,  70;   of  chil 

dren,  22. 
gustus,  first  course  at  dinner.  358. 


H 

Hadrian    (Emperor  117-138  a.d.),  tomb, 

427,  (438*). 
HAIR,  arrangement,  men,  254;  women, 

263;  of  a  bride,  78. 

HANDBALL,  318. 
HANDKERCHIEFS,  266. 

HARD  LABOR,  as  puuishment,  170. 

hasta,  sign  of  auction,  184. 

HATS,  252. 

HEAD  Of  the  House,  see  pater  familias. 

HEATiN(i  houses,  218;  baths,  368*,  869. 

HINGES  of  doors,  215*. 

HISTORY,  and  antiquities,  4;  not  taught 

systematically  in  schools,  112. 
HOLIDAYS,  numerous,  322;  school,   122; 

avoided  as  wedding  days,  75;  spent  in 

country,  416. 
HOME  training,  104. 
HONEY,  used  for  sugar,  281. 
hoplomacM,    later    name    for    "Sam- 

iiites,"360,  (344*). 
Horace,  (65-8  a.d.),  his  slaves,  188. 
HORSES,  in  chariot  races,  889,  840;    in 

other  shows,  848. 
Horti  Maecenatis,  423. 
hospites,  188  f. 
hospitium,  184. 

HOURS,  of  the  day,  417,  418;  for  meals, 
301;  for  baths,  374;  all  semi-public 
functi(ms,  415. 
HOUSE,  dwelling.  Chap.  VI.  See  Table 
of  Contents;  =  familia,  see  family: 
Head  of  House,  sec  pater  familias; 
house  slaves,  149. 
HousEof  Paiisa,  208*;  of  Sallust,  court- 

204*;  of  the  poet,  ruins,  (199*). 
HOUSEHOLD,  translati(m  of  familia,  ir. 
HUMAN  sacrifices,  844. 
HUT,  of  Romulus,  214*;  early  Romans. 

189*. 

hymenaeus,  marriage  hymn,  '^^. 


ianitor,  chained  to  post,  150,  196. 
iantaculum,  breakfast,  302. 
ianua,  distinguished  from  ostium,  2K>. 
ientaculum,  breakfast,  302. 
imagines,  kept  in  alae,  200;  in  funeral 
processions,  434.  ' 


338 


INDEX 


References  are  to  Paragraphs.     An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 


Imbrices,  tiles  for  roof,  214*. 
imperium  paternum,  31. 
impluvium,  188,  191, 196*. 
INCOME,  sources  of,  Chap.  XI.  See  Table 

of  Contents. 
INDUSTRIAL  employment  of  slaves,  143. 

indtitus,  clothing,  225. 

INK,  INKSTANDS,  etC,  395*. 

INNS,  388*. 

INSCRIPTIONS,  importance  of,  10;  of  a 
fugitlvus,  172;  of  Crescens,  342;  glad- 
iatorial show,  361 ;  of  Hylas,  363;  mile- 
stone, 386;  in  columbaria,  431;  of 
Plancus,  427,  note  (419). 

instita,  flounce  of  stola,  260. 

INSURRECTIONS  of  slaves,  132. 

INTERMENT,  see  BURIAL. 

iudicium  domesticum,  32. 

-ius,  original  in  nomen,  46;  in  other 

names,  55.  t 

ius  cdnubil,  64;    5sculi,  25;  patrium. 

31. 
iusti  liberi,  rightful  children,  69. 


JACKSTONES,     103,  320*. 

JESTERS,  153. 

JEWELRY  worn  by  men,  255;  women,  267. 

JOINING  hands  in  marriage  ceremony, 

74. 
Juvenal  (about  67-127  a.d.),  on  the  toga, 

244 ;   ' '  bread  and  games, ' '  322. 

K 

KITCHEN,  203. 

KNIGHTS,  income  of,  409. 
KNIVES  and  forks,  299. 

KNUCKLE-BONES,  320*. 


1.,  abbreviation  for  libertUB,  59. 

labrum,  basin  in  bath,  369,  376,  377. 

lacerna,  cloak,  247. 

Iac5nicum,  dry  sweat  bath,  367,  371*. 

laena,  woolen  cloak,  249. 

LAMPS,  228,  229*. 

LAND,  travel  by,  381. 

lanista,  trainer  of  gladiators,  349. 

laqueatores,   glaai^tors  witli  lassos, 

359. 


lares,  compitales,  gods  of  crossroads, 

87;  of  the  house,  199. 
LATER  theater,  326  f. 
lateres  cocti,  212*;  crudi,  210. 
LATIN  in  schools,  113;  best  spoken  by 

women,  92. 
latrlna,  toilet  room,  203*. 
laudatia  funrbris,    funeral    address, 

435. 
LAW,  practice  of,  407. 
lectica,  and  bearers,  151*;  on  journeys, 

382. 
lectus,  see  COUCH;  adversus,  199. 
LEGAL   status  Of   children,  94;    slaves, 

156;  women,  35,  36,  90. 
lenones,  139. 
LETTERS,  writing  of,  391;  sending,  390; 

speed,  389;  sealing  and  opening,  392; 

the  address,  392. 
libera    cena,    feast     for     gladiators, 

362. 
Liberalia,  127, 402. 
libertini,  in  business,  412  f . 
libertus,  opposed  to  libertinus,  175; 

relation  to  patron,  175. 

LIBERTY,  cap  of,    175*. 

libitlnarii,  undertakers,  433. 

LIBRARIES,  206,  402. 

librarii,  copyists,  391,  399,  401. 

limen,    threshold,  195,  215;   superum, 

215. 

LIMITATIONS  of  patila  potestas,  32, 
33;  of  manus,  36;  of  domlnica  po- 
testas, 156,  157. 

LINEN  goods,  269. 

linum,  392. 

LITERARY   SOUrCCS,  9. 

litterae,  see  letters;  eOdem  ex- 
emplo,  390. 

Livia,  columbarium  of,  428*. 

LOAVES  of  bread,  288*. 

locus,  consularis.  306;  in  columba- 
rium, 431. 

lorarius,  executioner,  174. 

lucerna.  lamp,  228*,  229*. 

ludi,  circenses,  328  f. ;  scenici,  323  f.j 
gladiataril  (schools),  349*,  350. 

ludus,   see   school;    ludus    Troiae, 

343. 
LUNCHEON,  302. 

lunula,  ornament,  98;  for  shoe,  251. 


INDEX 


339 


o>^^  tn  Piraeraphs.    An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 
References  are  to  ir'ardj^itiiMi:-.. 

M 


M   and  M' ,  in  names,  41. 
m.,trmiBSU8...f  pardoned  sU.Uator, 

301. 
Maecenas,  gardens  of.  423. 
maeniana,  sections  of  seats,  337  35a 
maenlanum.  projecting  second  story, 

033* 

magister   bibendl.  master  of  revels, 

313. 

maiestas  patria,  31.  _ 

malum,     Armeniacum.     granatum, 

Persicum,  Punicum.  274. 
mamillare,257*. 

mangdnes,  135. 

MANHOOD,  When  reached,  126. 

MANUFACTURE  of  clothiug,  271. 

M  \NUMissioN  of  slaves,  175. 

manus,  defined,  35;  limited,  36;  unpop- 
ular, 65,  66;  when  necessary,  66. 

Marcellus,  theater  of,  327*. 

MARRIAGE,  Chap.  III.  See  Table  of  Con- 
tents; by  capture,  78,  86,  88;  hymn,  86; 
cry,  87;  torch,  86,  89;  religious  duty, 

28 

Martial  (43-101  a.d.)  and  the  toga,  244; 

and  cost  of  books,  401. 
MASTER,  heir  of  his  slaves,  164. 
MATERIALS  for  clothiug,  269. 

MATCHED  PAIRS  of  SlaVCS,  140.  ^ 

matrimonium.  motherhood,  64;  inius- 

tum,  69. 
matrimus.  with  a  living  mother,  82. 

matronalia,  9i- 

MEALS,  Chap.  VIII.     See  Table  of  Con- 

tents. 

MEANINGS  of  names,  44. 

MEAT,  early  food  of  Italians,  273;  vari- 
ous kinds,  277. 

MEMORIAL  festivals,  438. 

mensa.  table  in  general,  227;  dining, 
307. 

mensa  prima,  first  course,  308. 
mensa  secunda,  dessert,  308,  303,  119. 
MENU,  Of  dinner,  309. 
merenda,  irregular  meal,  302. 
meridiatio,  noonday  rest,  302. 
meta,  of  a  grain  mill,  284*. 
metae,  in  a  circus,  331*,  335. 

MILESTONES,  386* 


MILL,  for  grain,  284* ;  for  olives,  292*;  as 

a  punishment,  148,  171. 
missus,     seven    laps  in    a   race,    331; 

"  spared,''  of  a  gladiator,  361. 
MIXING  BOWLS,  314*;  three  thousand  ot 

Pompeius  326;  mixing  wine,  314. 
mola,  mill,  284*,  285*. 
monopodium.  table  with  one  support, 

227*. 

MONUMENTAL  sources,  H. 

"Morituri  te  saliitant,"  362. 

MOSAICS,  221. 

MOTHER,  as  nurse,  100;  as  teacher,  104, 

105.  .   ^      - 

MOURNING,  Signs  of,  246,  353;  periods  of. 

437. 
mulleus,  patrician  shoe,  251. 
mulsa,  water  and  honey,  298. 
mulsum,  wine  and  honey,  298. 
munera,  opposed  to  ludl,  345;  gladia- 

taria.   Chap.  IX.    See  Table  of  Con- 

t<?iits. 
munire  viam,  of  road  building,  387 
murmillones,  class  of  gladiators,  363. 
mustaceum,  wedding  cake,  85. 
mustum,  iK^w  wine,  296. 
MUTUAL    obligations,    of    patron   and 

freedman,  175;  patrician  patron  and 

client,  179;  later  patron   and   client, 

182;  of  hospites,  185. 


N 

NAME,  Chap.  II.  See  Table  of  Contents. 
See  also  praenomen,  nomen,  cogno- 
men. ,      , 

narratio,  narration,  taught  in  schools, 

NATURALIZED  citizens,  names  of,  60. 

naumachiae.  naval  battles,  364. 

NETS,  for  the  hair,  264. 

NEW  clients,  181. 

NEWSPAPER,  substitute  for,  413. 

NICKNAMES,  54;  see  also  cognomen. 

NIGHT  for  burial,  432. 

NOBLES,  debarred  from  business  careers, 

404 ;  funerals  of,  433  f . 
nodus  Herculaneus,  77. 
nomen,  before  and   after  cognomen. 

40;  endings  of,  46;  sign  of  gens,  21,  4^  , 

two  or  more  in  one  name,  55;  used  as 

praenomen,  55. 


340 


INDEX 


INDEX 


341 


References  are  to  Paragraphs     An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 


References  are  to  Paragraphs.    An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 


nomenclator,  151, 415. 

aominalia,  97. 

novendiale,  437. 

nubere,  meaning,  77. 

nucleus,  in  roads,  387. 

NUMERALS    as    praeiiomina,    44;    as 

names  of  women,  57. 
nuptiae  iustae,  67;  iniustae,  69. 
NURSERY  Stories,  100. 
NURSES,  100;  Greek  preferred,  101. 
NUTS,  in   wedding   festivities,    87;    for 

marbles,  103;  grown  in  Italy,  274. 

O 

OBELISKS  in  the  circuses,  336*. 
OCCUPATIONS  of  slaves,  143. 
oeci,  rooms  in  house,  207. 
OLD  and  new  clients,  176  f. 
Oleum  ollvum,  olive  oil,  291. 

OLIVE,  uses,  287  f . ;   preserved,  290;  oil, 

uses,  291 ;  manufacture.  292. 
Ollae,  urns  for  ashes  of  dead,  428,  429, 

430*,  431,  437. 

ollus  quiris  leto  datus,  434. 

ONION,  unrefined,  275. 

oppidum,  in  circus,  330*. 

opus,  caementicium,   2io,   21 1*;    In- 

certum,  212*;  quadratum,  2io*;  re> 

ticulatum,  212*. 
Orange,  theater  at,  327*. 
ORANGE,  not  grown  in  Italy,  274. 

ordo,  in  columbarium,  428,  431 ;  scri- 

barum,  414. 
ornamenta,  theatrical  proi:>erties,  324. 
ornator,  valet,  150. 
©matrix,  ladies'  maid,  150,  265. 
cs  resectum,  bone  for  burial,  436. 
ostium,  door,  195. 
ova,  m  the  circus,  336. 
OVEN,  for  bread,  287*. 


p..  for  periit-,  of  gladiators,  361, 
paedagogus,  123*. 
paenula,  cloak,  248* 
palaestra,  exercise  ground,  367,  376*. 
palla,  woman*s  robe,  261. 
paliidamentum,  general  s  cloak,  247. 
palus,  with  primus  or  secundus,  363. 
papyrus,  manufacture,  394 ;  rolls,  396. 


PARASOL,  266*. 

parentalia,  festival  of,  438. 
paries,  house  wall,  210. 

pater  and  derivatives,  26. 

paterfamilias,  defined,  17;  powers,  see 
potestas;  adopted  into  another  fam- 
ily, 30. 

patria  potestas,  see  potestas. 

patricii,  sons  of  fathers,  64. 

patrimonium  profundere,  33. 

patrimus,  with  a  living  father,  82. 

patronus,  derivation  of  word,  26;  and 
libertus,  175;  patrician  and  client, 
179;  and  client  of  later  times,  182. 

PAUPERS,  burial  of,  423. 

PAVEMENT,  construction,  387. 

pavimentum,  floor,  213. 

PAY  of  teachers,  121;  of  chariot  drivers, 
342;  of  soldiers,  410. 

peciilium,  defined,  33;  of  slaves,  162. 

peciinia,  meaning,  273. 

pedisequi,  lackeys,  123, 180. 

PENS,  395. 

peregrinus,  foreigner,  69. 

PERFUMES  at  feasts,  313. 

PERISTYLE,  192,  202*;  perhaps  a  kitcheu 
garden  originally,  197. 

pero,  shoe  of  untanned  leather,  251. 

Persius  (34-63  a.u.)  as  a  schoolboy,  124. 

pessuli,  bolts  for  doors,  216. 

petasus,  hat,  252*. 

petoritum,  baggage  wagon,  383. 

PETS  for  children,  103. 

PHILOLOGY,  defined,  6. 

PHYSICIANS,  income  and  attainments, 
412. 

pietas,  affection,  73. 

pilentum,  state  carriage,  383. 

pilleus,  cap  of  liberty,  175*,  252. 

piscina,  plunge  bath,  367,  370,  376*,  377*. 

pistdres,  millers  and  bakers,  283. 

PLACES,  of  honor  at  dinner,  305* ;  in  the 
theater,  326;  in  the  circus,  337;  in  the 
amphitheater  (Pompeii),  355,  (Rome), 
358;  where  gladiators  were  shown, 
356;  of  burial,  421. 

PLAN,  of  theater  after  Vitruvius,  327; 
circus  of  Maxentius,  330;  of  glad- 
iatorial school  at  Pompeii,  349;  of 
houses,  189,  190,  191,  192,  193;  of  house 
of  Pansa,  208;  of  baths,  371,  376,  378; 


of  inn,  388;  of  tombs   and   grounds, 

425,  426. 

Plancus,  tomb  of,  419*,  427. 

Piautus  (tl84  B.C.)  on  puis,  283. 

PLAYTHINGS  for  children,  102*. 

PLEBEIANS,  marriages  of,  62;  impor- 
tance of  cognates,  65;  gain  right  of 
marriage,  64;  old  plebeians,  177;  new, 

178. 
plebB,  see  plebeians. 
Pliny,  the  elder  (t79  a.d.),  354. 
pdcula,  goblets,  314*. 
podium,  in  circus,  337;    in   amphithe- 

ater,  357;  in  tombs,  425. 
POLITICS,  as  a  career,  406. 
PoUio,  Vedius,  cruelty  of,  158. 
polygamy  unknown  at  Rome,  61. 
pompa  circensis,  parade  in  circus,  243. 
Pompeii,  importance  of  discoveries  at. 
11,  12;  house  plans,  187  f.;   business 
rooms  in   private   house,  194;    small 
house  at,  197*;  house  of  poet,  199*;  of 
Pansa,  208*;  smaller  theater  at,  327*; 
ludi  gladiatorii,  350*;  amphitheater, 
353*;  thermae,  376*;  street  of  tombs, 
421*;  tomb  with  marble  door,  196*. 
pondera,  stepping-stones,  233*. 
pontifex  maximus.  in  marriage  cere- 
mony, 82. 
poor,  burial  of,  428. 
por,  for  puer  in  names,  58. 
PORK,  favorite  meat,  278. 
PORRIDGE,  283,  286,  299. 
porta    triumphalis    in    circus,    330; 

pompae,  330;  Libitinensis,  354. 
POSITION  of  women,  90. 
postal  service,  389. 
postlcum,  garden  door,  216. 
potestas,  patria,  3l;    limitations,  32, 
73;    extinguished,  34;   suspension  of, 
34;  dominica,  37. 

POTTERS  FIELD  at  Romc,  423. 

praecinctio,  in  theater,  327;  in  circus, 
337;  in  coliseum,  358. 

praenomen,  first  name,  41 ;  number,  41 ; 
abbreviations,  41,  45;  limited  in  cer- 
tain families,  42;  given  to  firstborn 
son,  43;  meanings  of,  44;  two  in  one 
name.  r5. 

prandium,  luncheon,  302. 

prices,  of  baths,  373;  books,  401 ;  houses, 


222,  note;  meals,  388;    slaves,  140;  ta- 
bles, 227 ;  wines,  298. 

PRIMITIVE  house,  188 

primus  palus,  title  of  honor,  363. 

PRIVATE,  antiquities,  2;  slaves,  142  f . ; 
bathhouse  at  Caerwent,  371*;  games, 
322 ;  rooms  in  house,  203. 

PROCESSION,  bridal,  86;  in  circus,  343, 
in  the  amphitheater,  362. 

pr5ciirator,  steward,  149. 

PROFESSIONS  in  hands  of  freedmen  and 
foreigners,  412;  even  of  slaves,  143. 

PROLETARIATE,  411. 

pr61usi5,  sham  fight,  362. 
pr5mulsis,  appetizer,  308. 
pronuba,  matron  of  honor,  81. 
PROVINCES,  corruption  in,  406,  409. 
PUBLIC,    antiquities,   2;    baths,    372  f., 

376*,  377*;  fountains,  233*;  games,  322; 

opinion,  in  case  of  children,  32,  33;  in 

case  of  slaves,  156. 
'PUBLICANS  and  sinners,'*  409. 

PUBLICATION  of  bOOkS,  400. 

puer,  for  servus,  58;  written  por.  58. 
pugillares,  writing    tablets  in    sets, 

391*. 
puis,  ancient  national  diet,  288. 
pul  >iplia£onidae,  299. 
punishm;<:nts  of  schoolboys,  120*.  124; 

of  si  Lives,  1 06  f. 
pup  (us),  of  unnamed  child,  55. 
PURPLR  or  crimson,  270. 
putlculi,  gravepits,  423. 

Q 

quadrans,  regular  bath  charge,  373. 
quadrigae,  in  races,  340. 


R 

RACEHORSES,  339  f. 

RACES    in   circus,   339   f.;    teams,    340; 

drivers,  341 ;  syndicates.  339. 
RACING  syndicates,  339. 
RAPE  of  the  Sabines,  86,  87. 
READING,  how  taught,  110. 
reda,  carriage,  384. 

REFERENCE  bOOkS,  13. 

RELATIONSHIPS,  agiiati,  23;   cognati, 

25;  adf  ines,  20. 
renuntiare,  break  an  engagement  to 

marry,  71. 


342 


INDEX 


INDEX 


343 


References  are  to  Par  agraphs.    An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 


References  are  to  Paragraphs.    An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 


repotia,  85.  89. 

repudium  renuntiare,  see  renuntlare. 
retiarii,  gladiators  with  nets,  359,  360*. 
reticula,  nets  for  the  hair,  264. 
REWARDS  of  aurigae,  341 ;  of  gladiators, 

383. 
rex  bibendi,  lord  of  the  feast,  313. 
KiCE  in  modern  wedding  festivities,  87. 
RINGS,    engagement,    71;     men's,    255; 

women's,  267;  worn  on  joint,  256. 
ROADS,  383*-387*. 
Romulus,  legislation  of,  32,  95 ;  wall  of, 

210*;  hut  of,  214*. 
ROOF,  of  peristyle,  202*;  construction  of, 

214*. 
rosaria,  feast  of  roses,  438. 
rudes,  fencing  swords,  349;  with  prima 

or  secunda,  363. 
rtidus,  in  roads,  387*. 
RUNAWAY  slaves,  161,  172* 

S 
sacra  gentilicia,  22. 
sacrarium,  private  chapel,  207*. 
SADDLES,  not  used  by  Romans,  381. 
sagina  gladiatoria,  training  food,  349. 
sagum,  military  cloak,  247. 
SALADS,  276. 

SALES  of  captives,  134;  of  slaves,  139. 
SALTCELLAR  Of  silver,  279;    always  on 

table,  307. 
8alutati5,  morning  levee,  182. 
•'Samnites,"  name  for  gladiators,  359. 

360*;  later  called  secutores  <>r  hoplo- 

machi,  360. 

SANDALS,  see  SLIPPERS. 

sarcophagus  (436*),  425. 

SAVINGS  of  slaves,  162-164. 

SCALES,  in  marriage  ceremony,  83. 

scapus,  fixed  quantity  of  paper,  394,  398. 

schedae,  sheets  of  paper,  395. 

SCHOOLS,  Chap.  IV.  See  Table  of  Con- 
tents. 

SCHOOLS  for  gladiators,  349*. 

scrlbae,  in  civil  service,  414;  as  copyists, 
see  librarii. 

scrinium,  case  for  books,  397*. 

SEALS,  255*,  392. 

SEATS,  in  theater,  of  classes,  326;  ar- 
rangement, 327;  in  circus,  337;  in  am- 
phitheater (Pompeii),  855;  (.Rome),  358. 


secunda  mensa,  308,  309,  311 
secutores,  later  name  for  "  Samnites." 

360. 
SEDAN  CHAIRS,  in  travel,  380 
sella  curulis.  225* 
semitae,  sidewalks,  387. 
sepulcrum,  425,  436. 
serae,  bars,  216. 

Servius  and  Serglus,  derivation,  41. 
Servius,  grammarian  (4th  cent,  a.d.),  434. 
SEVENTEEN,  time  of  coming  of  age,  126. 
SHIPS,  travel  by,  380. 
SHOES,  252*,  262*. 

SHOWS  of  gladiators.    See  mtinera. 
SHUTTERS  for  wiudows,  217 

SIDEWALKS,  233. 

SIGNS  of  mercy  in  amphitheater,  362. 
silicernium,  funeral  feast,  436. 
SILK  goods,  269. 

sine  missione,  ••to  the  death,"  363. 
SIZE  of  books,  898. 

SLAVEHUNTERS,  161. 

SLAVERY  and  clientage,  180. 

SLAVES,  Chap.  V.   See  Table  of  Contents. 

SLEEPING  rooms,  205. 

SLIPPERS,  2.50*,  262*. 

SMOKE  to  ripen  wine,  297. 

solarium,  place  to  take  the  sun,  207, 
426;  sun-dial,  232. 

SOLDIERS,  career,  410. 

soleae,  250*,  262*;  soleas  poscere,  "to 
take  leave,*'  312. 

solium,  chair,  226*;  basin  in  bath,  369. 

solum,  floor,  213. 

sordidati,  in  mourning  garb,  246. 

sors  virilis,  a  shareholder's  part,  430. 

SOURCES  of  philological  knowledge, 
literary,  9;  epigraphic,  10;  monu- 
mental, 11. 

Sp.,  abbreviation  for  Spurius,  41. 

sp.,  abbreviation  for  spectavlt  popu- 
lus,  363. 

Spartacus,  132,  172. 

spatium,  lap  in  circus,  331. 

SPEED,  in  travel,  389;  in  writing,  401. 

spina  in  circus,  331*,  :^6*. 

spina  alba,  of  wedding  torch,  86. 

SPINNING  wheel,  197. 

SPLITTING  up  of  a  house,  19. 

spondeo,  technical  word  in  contract.  71. 

sponsa,  of  a  girl  betrothed,  71. 


Bp6nsalia,  ceremony  of  betrothal,  70. 

SPORT,  Roman  idea  of,  316. 

SPORTS  of  the  campus,  317;  of  children, 

102,  103 
sportula.  the  clients'  dole,  182. 
STAGE,  early,  325;  later.  326 f.;  of  Vitru- 

vius,  327*. 
STAGING  a  play,  324. 
statumen  in  roads.  387. 
STEPPING-STONES  in  Streets,  233*. 
stilus,  for  writing,  391. 
stola.  259,  260*;  matronalis,  9i. 

STOOLS,  225*. 

sTOVE,for  cooking,20:3* ;  for  heating,  218*. 

STREET,  appearance,  233*;  construction, 

387;  closed  to  vehicles,  382;  of  tombs 

at  Pompeii,  421*. 
strigiles,  flesh  scrapers,  367*,  370. 
strophium,  girdle,  2.58. 
STUCCO,  as  finish  for  exterior  wall,  212. 
STYLE  of  living,  299;  of  bathing,  367. 
Styx,  passage  of,  433. 
suasoria,  debates  in  schools,  115. 
sub  hasta  venire,  auction  sale,  134. 
SUBJECTS  taught  in  schools.  Chap.  IV. 
subligaculum,  loin  cloth,  235,  257  (26*, 

151*;. 
subucula.  imder-tunic,  227. 
Budaria,  handkerchiefs,  266. 
Suetonius  (about  75-160),  390. 
SUICIDE  of  captives  and  slaves,  140*,  i61. 
Bul  luris,  independent,  17. 
Sulla  and  Sura,  derivation,  .^5. 
SUPPLY  of  gladiators,  347;  of  slaves,  134; 

of  horses  for  racing,  339. 

Sura,  derivation,  55. 

ausceptio,  acknowledgment  of  children, 

95. 
SUSPENSION  of  potestas,  34. 
suspensura.   elevated    floor   of    bath. 

room,  368*. 
SWEAT  bath,  dry,  367;  moist,  369. 
synthesis,  dinner  dress,  249. 


tabellae,  for  writing,  lio*,  391*. 
tabellarii,  letter  carriers,  389. 
TABLE  knives  and  forks  unknown,  299. 
TAbLES,  cost,  kinds,  materials,  227*. 
tablinum,  in  early  house.  190;  in  later 
house,  201 ;  meaning  of  word,  201. 


Tacitus  (about  55-117)  on  the  toga,  133. 
Talassi5,  marriage  cry,  87. 
tall,  knuckle-bones,  320*. 

TEACHERS,  121. 

tecta,  roofs,  214. 

tegula,  tiles,  214*. 

tepidarium,  purpose,  366;  other  uses, 
367;  position,  368;  unusual  size,  37.*, 
several  in  one  bath.  376*;  in  the  large 
thermae,  377;  with  cold  bath,  370. 

tessera  gladiatoria,  363*:  hospitalis, 

185. 
THEATER,  early,  325;  later.  326;  of  Vitru- 

vius,  327*;  at  Pompeii,  :«7*;  at  Orange, 

327* ;  of  Pompeius,  326. 
thermae,  meaning,  372;  plan  of  small, 

376* ;  of  large,  378*. 
THIRD  FINGER  for  engagement  ring,  71. 
"Thracians,"  gladiators,  360*,  361. 
"Thumbs  down,"  signal  for  death,  362. 
Tiberius  (Emperor,  14-37  a.d.),  274. 
tibialia,  wrappings  for  the  legs,  239. 
TILES,  for  roofs,  etc.,  214*. 
tir5cinium  fori,  114;  militiae,  118. 
tirones,  of  untrained  gladiators,  113. 
titulus,  description   of   slave,    139;  in 
columbaria,  429,  431*. 

TOAST-MASTER,  313. 
TOASTS,  314. 

TOGA,  material  and  use,  240;  appear- 
ance, 241*;  in  literature,  242*;  on  the 
monuments,  243*;  cumbrous  and  un- 
comfortable, 244;  earlier  toga,  245*; 
kinds  of,  246;  see  also  the  Latin  word 
below. 

toga,  see  the  English  word  above; 
Candida,  246;  libera,  127;  picta, 
246;  pulla,  246;pura,  240;  praetexta, 
76,  125,  246;  splendens,  246;  virilis, 

125. 
TOILET  articles,  205*. 
tollere,  acknowledge  a  child,  44.  95. 
TOMBS,  422  f. 

tonsor,  barber  and  barber-shop,  254. 
TORCHES,  at  funerals.  434;  weddings,  86, 

89. 
"To  the  lions,"  364. 

TOWN-SLAVES,  159. 

trabea,  cloak  for  men,  247. 

trades,  412. 

TRAINERS  Of  gladiatorfe,  349,  363. 


..',> 

k. 


344 


INDEX 


References  are  to  Paragraphs.    An  asterisk  denotes  a  cut. 


TRAVEL,  Chap.  X.    See  Table  of   Con- 
tents. 

TRAVELING  Cloak,  248. 
TREADING  grapes  for  wine,  298*. 

TREATMENT  Of  slaveS,  158. 

triclinium,  diuing-room,  204,  304*;  in 
court,  204*. 

trigon,  three  handed  ball,  318. 
TRIPLE  name,  38;  expanded,  39;  short- 
ened, 40. 
Tullus,  meaning,  44. 
TUNIC,  236*. 

tunica,  236*;  angusti  clavi,  238;  lati 
clavi,  2^8;  exterior  (men's),  237; 
(women's),  259*;  interior,  239,  258; 
manicata,237;  talaris,  239;  recta,  76; 
regilla,  76. 

Tuscanicum  atrium,  196. 

tutor,  guardian,  19,  70. 

TWELVE  TABLES  (450  B. c. ) ,  in  the  schools, 

111;  mention  both  burial  and  burning 

of  dead,  420. 

tyrotarichus,  a  dish  of  cheese  and  salt 
fish,  280. 

u 

nmbella,  parasol,  266*. 
umbilicus,  of  a  papyrus  roll,  397. 
umbones,  of  a  road,  387. 
umbraculum,  parasol,  260*. 
umbrae,  unexpected  guests,  .304. 
unctorium,  use,  3G6;  makeshift  for,  367. 
UNLUCKY  days,  75. 
URNS,  for  ashes  of  dead,  see  ollae. 
iistrina,  place  for  private  cremation 
426. 

U8US,  of  marriage,  definition,  62;  cere- 
mony of,  84. 

V 

v.,  for  vlclt,  of  gladiators,  361. 
vappa,  term  of  reproach,  297,  note. 
Varro  (116-28  B.C.),  2.53. 
VEGETABLES  grown  by  Romans,  275. 
VEGETARIANS,  early  Romans,  299. 
VEHICLES,  used  for  travel.  882  f. 
vela,  portieres,  216:  rv/nings,  358,  361. 
venationes,  hunts  in  circus  and  amphi- 
theater, 343,  364. 

ventralia,   wrappings  for    the   body, 
239. 

Venus,  the  high  throw,  320, 


vernae,  slaves  born  in  the  house,  138;  of 

Attirus,  1,55. 

Verres.  as  a  nomen,  46;  the  governor  of 

Sicily,  406. 

vesperna,  evening  meal  in  country,  303. 

Vestales,  special  seats  in  theater,  337; 
in  amphitheater,  357;  allowed  car- 
riages in  the  city,  382. 

vestibulum,  space  before  the  door,  194. 

via  Appia,  385*,  387*. 

vicarius,  a  slave's  slave,  1G4. 

vllicus,  overseer,  145,  148;  cheats  slaves, 
160. 

VILLAS  of  the  rich,  14.5,  379,  416. 
vinalia  rustica,  festival,  29^5. 
VINEGAR,  281,  297,  note. 

VINEYARD,  295. 

vinum,  fermented  wine,  297. 
violaria,  feast  of  violets,  438. 

VITICULTURE,  293,  294. 

Vitruvius,  architect  of  the  first  century, 

187,  327,  366,  387. 
voliimen,  papyrus  roll,  396.    See  book. 
VULTURE,  the  lowest  throw,  320. 

W 

WALL,  Of  house,  210  f.;  facing  for,  212*; 
around  arena,  354*,  357*. 

WATER,  supply  for  houses,  21 9;  for  baths, 
368;  traveling  by,  380. 

WAX  masks,  of  the  dead,  433. 

WEDDING,  see  MARRIAGE;  day,  75;  feast, 
85;  garments,  76;  torch,  86,  89;  proces- 
sion, 83. 

Whitney  (1827-1894),  definition  of  Phi 
lology.  60. 

WINDOWS,  217*. 

WINE,  in  Italy,  293;  districts.  294;  ma- 
king, 296*;  vaults,  297*;  jars,  297  (Fig. 
116) ;  drunk  diluted,  298;  cost,  298. 

WOMEN,  name?,  of,  57;  position  of,  90; 
education  of,  92;  dress  of,  257 f.;  at 
table,  302,  304*;  at  amphitheater,  353, 
358;  at  baths,  375. 

WOOL  for  clothing,  269. 

WORDS  of  style  in  contracts,  70;  at 
funerals,  434. 

WRITING,  how  taught,  nO;  of  books,  390. 

z 

zona,  girdle,  260*. 


i«l 


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